Agrobacterium-Mediated Transformation of Ruta graveolens L

Agrobacterium tumefaciens is used to develop a genetic transformation method for a medicinal plant Ruta graveolens . The direct plant regeneration strategy is preferred to callus line establishment. In vitro seedlings, 2- –to 3-wk-old, are used to excise hypocotyls and co-cultivated for 3 d with A. tumefaciens strain C58C1Rif^R containing plasmid pTDE4 harbouring neomycin phosphotransferase (npt II, kanamycin resistance) and β-glucuronidase encoding genes. The Southern blot analysis has shown that 78% kanamycin resistant plants contain gene encoding β-glucuronidase. The GUS histochemical assay shows that 67% transgenic plants exhibit the corresponding enzymatic activity. Routine transformation efficiency of R. graveolens L. is 11% and could reach up to 22%. Transgenic plants are grown in the greenhouse within 4 months after the initial seedlings.