Citrus

Since the initial reports on production of transgenic Citrus via Agrobacterium -mediated transformation, significant progress has been made, and many steps of this procedure using the juvenile tissue explants have been improved. Abundant availability of starting material and relative simplicity make this procedure an attractive choice for many researchers despite transformation efficiency that is in the low range of about 1%. Variety of available Agrobacterium strains and reporter/selection genes further facilitate the work by allowing careful planning of experiments in which many steps can be adjusted towards a particular Citrus cultivar. With the use of this procedure, genetically transformed grapefruit, oranges, lime, and rootstock cultivars are routinely produced while some difficulties persist in efforts to transform lemon and especially mandarin cultivars.