Agracetus

Monsanto Company

Monsanto Technology LLC

Paul Christou

Dennis E McCabe

Tameria L Ford

Matt Kofron

Kenneth A Barton

William F Swain

A method of transforming rice is disclosed. The method begins with the preparation of copies of a nucleic acid construct that are coated onto biologically inert carrier particles. In one embodiment, the nucleic acid-coated carrier particles are physically accelerated toward immature rice embryos. In another embodiment, the nucleic acid-coated carrier particles are accelerated toward discs excised from the meristem region of a rice seedling. Both the bombarded embryos and discs are cultivated to produce shoots. These shoots are cultivated into whole sexually mature plants, some of which are transformed. The presence of the nucleic acid construct is verified in either the shoots or the sexually mature plants. A particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention is a transformed Indica rice plant.

Method of creating a transformed rice plant

Method of creating transformed rice plant

A method is disclosed for making more efficient the particle-mediated germ line genetic transformation of bean species such as soybean. After a particle-mediated transformation event, in the absence of a selectable marker gene, relatively large numbers of plants must be regenerated to find the relatively low likelihood germ line transformation events which have occurred. It has been discovered that using in the transformation process a marker gene linked to the gene of interest, and by excising a segment of the stem of the shoot during the regeneration process and assaying the segment for the marker gene, certain patterns or phenotypes can be identified in the stem segment which are associated with an increased frequency of germ line transformation events. As the plants are regenerated, other indices of gene expression, at the first trifoliate leaf stage and at the third or fourth trifoliate leaf stage, also serve as markers of the likelihood of germ line transformation. By using these markers in the relatively early stages of plant regeneration to assay for likelihood of germ line events, it is possible to concentrate regeneration efforts on plants most likely to yield germ line events, and to discard the others, so as to lower the burden and effort in achieving a desired number of transformation events.

Plant transformation with early identification of germ line

Plant transformation process with early identification of germ line

A method and apparatus is disclosed for the genetic transformation of soybean plants and plant lines by particle mediated transformation. Foreign genes are introduced into regenerable soybean tissues by coating on carrier particles which are physically accelerated into plant tissues. The treated plant tissues are then recovered and regenerated into whole sexually mature plants. The progeny are recovered from seed set by these plants and a portion of these progeny will contain in their genome the foreign gene. The procedure may be used to create novel genetically engineered soybean plants and lines.

Particle-mediated transformation of soybean plants and lines

Growing community of inventors

Madison, WI, United States of America

Paul Christou