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Title: PLASTID TRANSFORMATION OF SOYBAN SUSPENSION CURLTURES

Author
item ZHANG, XING-HAI - FORMER USDA ARS URBANA
item PORTIS JR, ARCHIE
item WIDHOLM, JACK - CROP SCIENCES UOFI URBANA

Submitted to: Plant Biotechnology Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/31/2001
Publication Date: 12/20/2001
Citation: ZHANG, X., PORTIS JR, A.R., WIDHOLM, J.M. PLASTID TRANSFORMATION OF SOYBAN SUSPENSION CURLTURES. PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY. 2001. v. 3. p. 39-44.

Interpretive Summary: Photosynthesis, the process by which plants use light energy from the sun to make carbohydrates grow from carbon dioxide and water, occurs in the chloroplasts. Chloroplasts contain genes encoding many proteins including Rubisco, which initiates photosynthetic carbon fixation. A process called chloroplast transformation can be used to modify these genes to improve photosynthesis or to insert new genes to express new proteins at high levels in leaves. In this report chloroplast transformation of soybean leaves, photoautotrophic cells, and embryogenic cell cultures was attempted by particle bombardment with a vector carrying the coding sequence of both subunits of a foreign Rubisco. Transformation of the embryogenic cells was successful and the native large subunit Rubisco gene was replaced by the foreign gene. Unfortunately, none of the transformed lines survived the plant regeneration process. However, if overall methods are improved, it should be possible to insert or replace genes in the chloroplast genome of the important crop soybean. This information will benefit scientists attempting improve soybeans by biotechnology.

Technical Abstract: Plastid transformation was attempted with soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] leaves and photoautotrophic and embryogenic cultures by particle bombardment using the transforming vector pZVII that carries the coding sequences for both subunits of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Rubisco and spectinomycin resistance gene (aadA). Spectinomycin resistant Cali were selected from the bombarded leaves but the transgene was not present, indicating that the resistance was due to mutation. The Chlamydomonas rbcL and rbcS genes were shown to be site-specifically integrated into the plastid genome of the embryogenic cells with a very low transformation efficiency. None of the transformed embryogenic lines survived the plant regeneration process so no whole plants were recovered. This result does indicate that it should be possible to insert genes into the plastid genome of the important crop soybean if the overall methods are improved.