Plant Cell Transfection by Electroporation

A crucial step in the characterization of recombinant genes is their introduction into a suitable host. Numerous techniques have been developed for introducing recombinant genes into plant cells (see other chapters in this volume, or vol. 6 in this series) (1 ), one of the most versatile and generally applicable is direct DNA transfer by electroporation. Gene transfer by electroporation was first demonstrated in cultured animal cells (2 ,3 ), and was soon adapted for use in plant protoplasts (4 ,5 ). It has been used both for studying transient gene expression (5 ,6 ) and for generating stably transformed plant cells (4 ,6 ,7 ). Electroporation can also be used for introducing other molecules such as RNA, proteins, or dyes (8 ,9 ).