Pak. J. Bot., 48(2): 707-712, 2016.

ROBUST REGENERATION PROTOCOL FOR THE AGROBACTERIUM TUMEFACIENS MEDIATED TRANSFORMATION OF SOLANUM TUBEROSUM

ANUM ZEB ABBASI1, MISBAH BILAL1, JAMSHAID HUSSAIN1, MOHAMMAD MAROOF SHAH1, AMJAD HASSAN1, SUK-YOON KWON2, SHAFIQ-UR-REHMAN3* AND RAZA AHMAD1*

Abstract: Plant genetic transformation requires robust regeneration system. Plant growth regulators (PGRs) such as cytokinins (CKs) play a pivotal role in organogenesis; however, CKs are the most expensive PGRs. In the current study, an efficient yet economical protocol for regeneration of potato plant was developed. Stem inter-nodal and leaf explants were cultured on different regeneration media supplemented with varying concentration of different CKs such as kinetin and zeatin. Murashige- Skoog media added with zeatin (1, 1.5 mg/L) was designated as RZ1, RZ1.5, respectively or kinetin (1.5, 2 mg/L) was designated as RK1.5 and RK2, respectively, however, concentrations of other hormones such as NAA (1-Naphthaleneacetic acid) and GA3 (Gibberellic acid A3) were kept same. RZ1 and RZ1.5 gave significantly better results as compared to RK-type media in all aspects studied such as callus initiation, days to first shoot emergence, number of shoots per explants. RZ1 medium was then selected as regeneration media for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of potato plants with cyanobacterial phosphoenol pyruvate carboxylase gene, which provided multiple putative transformants on selection media. The transformants were further confirmed through PCR. The current protocol is found to be cost effective and efficient for the regeneration of Solanum tuberosum and can be successfully implied for the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.

Key words: Tissue culture, Potato, Regeneration, Agrobacterium transformation, PEPC.

1Department of Environmental Sciences (Biotechnology Program), COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad, 22060, Pakistan

2Plant Systems Engineering Research Center, KRIBB, Daejeon 305-806, Korea

3Department of Plant Sciences, Kohat University of Science and Technology, (KUST), Kohat 26000, Pakistan

*Co-Corresponding author’s email: drshafiq@yahoo.com, chishti@ciit.net.pk