Development of transgenic rice pure lines by particle bombardment-mediated transformation and genetic analysis-based selection

Abstract

Mature seed-derived callus from an elite Chinese japonica rice cv. Eyl 105 was transformed with a plasmid containing the selectable marker hygromycin phosphotransferase (hpt) and the reporter β-glucuronidase (gusA) genes via particle bombardment. After two rounds of selection on hygromycin (30 mg/l)-containing medium, resistant callus was transferred to hygromycin (30 mg/l)-containing regeneration medium for plant regeneration. Twenty-three independent transgenic rice plants were regenerated from 127 bombarded callus with a transformation frequency of 18.1%. All the transgenic plants contained both gusA and hpt genes, revealed by PCR/Southern blot analysis. GUS assay revealed 18 out of 23 plants (78.3%) proliferated on hygromycin-containing medium had GUS expression at various levels. Genetic analysis confirmed Mendelian segregation of transgenes in progeny. From R2 generations with their R1 parent plants showing 3:1 Mendelian segregation, we identified three independent homozygous transgenic rice lines. The homozygous lines were phenotypically normal and fertile compared to the control plants. We demonstrate that homozygous transgenic rice lines can be obtained via particle bombardment-mediated transformation and through genetic analysis-based selection.