Genetic transformation of mango.
Mathews H., Litz R. E., Wilde H. D., Wetzstein H. Y.
Author Affiliation: Scripps Research Institute, 10666 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
: 93-97
Abstract : Genetically transformed somatic embryos of mango (Mangifera indica) cultivars Hindi and Keitt were obtained using two Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains. In Keitt, a monoembryonic cultivar, segments of somatic embryos derived from zygotic embryo explants were co-cultivated with A. tumefaciens strain C58C1 containing the plasmid pGV3850::1103 conferring resistance to the antibiotic kanamycin. After screening on selection medium, proliferating globular somatic embryos were transferred to maturation medium where they developed into plantlets. Nucellar proembryos of Hindi, a polyembryonic cultivar, were co-cultivated with A. tumefaciens strain A208 harbouring pTiT37-SE::PMON9749 (9749 ASE) with marker genes encoding GUS and NPT. Transformed proembryos capable of growing on selection medium containing kanamycin stained blue in the presence of X-Gluc. These proembryos were screened on solid medium containing 400 mg kanamycin/litre and then in liquid selection medium containing 100 mg kanamycin/litre. This stringent selection procedure enabled recovery of pure clones of transformed somatic embryos of Hindi. Southern blotting confirmed the integration of NPT II and GUS genes into the mango genome.