Papaya (Carica papaya L.).

Transgenic papaya plants were initially obtained using particle bombardment, a method having poor efficiency in producing intact, single-copy insertion of transgenes. Single-copy gene insertion was improved using Agrobacterium tumefaciens. With progress being made in genome sequencing and gene discovery, there is a need for more efficient methods of transformation in order to study the function of these genes. We describe a protocol for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation using carborundum-wounded papaya embryogenic calli. This method should lead to high-throughput transformation, which on average produced at least one plant that was positive in polymerase chain reaction (PCR), histochemical staining, or by Southern blot hybridization from 10 to 20% of the callus clusters that had been co-cultivated with Agrobacterium. Plants regenerated from the callus clusters in 9 to 13 mo.

High-density linkage mapping revealed suppression of recombination at the sex determination locus in papaya.

A high-density genetic map of papaya (Carica papaya L.) was constructed using 54 F(2) plants derived from cultivars Kapoho and SunUp with 1501 markers, including 1498 amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers, the papaya ringspot virus coat protein marker, morphological sex type, and fruit flesh color. These markers were mapped into 12 linkage groups at a LOD score of 5.0 and recombination frequency of 0.25. The 12 major linkage groups covered a total length of 3294.2 cM, with an average distance of 2.2 cM between adjacent markers. This map revealed severe suppression of recombination around the sex determination locus with a total of 225 markers cosegregating with sex types. The cytosine bases were highly methylated in this region on the basis of the distribution of methylation-sensitive and -insensitive markers. This high-density genetic map is essential for cloning of specific genes of interest such as the sex determination gene and for the integration of genetic and physical maps of papaya.

Taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott).

Genetic engineering of taro is an effective method to improve taro quality and the resistance to various diseases of taro. Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of taro is more efficient than the particle bombardment transformation method based on current research. The development of a regeneration system starting from taro shoot tip explants could produce dasheen mosaic virus (DsMV)-free plantlets. Highly regenerative calluses could be developed from DsMV-free, in vitro plantlets on the Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with 2 mg/L BA and 1 mg/L NAA (M5 medium). The Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation method is reported in this chapter. The highly regenerative calluses were selected and cocultivated with the Agrobacterium strain EHA105 harboring the binary vector PBI121 with either a rice chitinase gene chi11 or a wheat oxalate oxidase gene gf2.8. After cocultivation for 3-4 days, these calluses were transferred to selection medium (M5 medium) containing 50 mg/L Geneticin G418 and grown for 3 months in the dark. Transgenic shoot lines could be induced and selected on the MS medium containing 4 mg/L BA (M15 medium) and 50 mg/L Geneticin G418 for 3 months further in the light. Molecular analyses are used to confirm the stable transformation and expression of the disease resistance gene chi11 or gf2.8. Pathologic bioassays could be used to demonstrate whether the transgenic plants had increased disease resistance to taro pathogens Sclerotium rolfsii or Phytophthora colocasiae.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott) with a rice chitinase gene for improved tolerance to a fungal pathogen Sclerotium rolfsii.

Taro (Colocasia esculenta) is one of the most important crops in the Pacific Islands, however, taro yields have been declining in Hawaii over the past 30 years partly due to diseases caused by oomycete and fungal pathogens. In this study, an efficient Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation method for taro is first reported. In total, approximately 200 pieces (8 g) of embryogenic calluses were infected with the super-virulent A. tumefaciens strain EHA105 harboring the plant transformation plasmid pBI121/ricchi11 that contains the rice chitinase gene ricchi11. The presence and expression of the transgene ricchi11 in six independent transgenic lines was confirmed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR). Southern blot analysis of the six independent lines indicated that three out of six (50%) had integrated a single copy of the transgene, and the other three lines had two or three copies of the transgene. Compared to the particle bombardment transformation of taro method, which was used in the previous studies, the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method obtained 43-fold higher transformation efficiency. In addition, these six transgenic lines via Agrobacterium may be more effective for transgene expression as a result of single-copy or low-copy insertion of the transgene than the single line with multiple copies of the transgene via particle bombardment. In a laboratory bioassay, all six transgenic lines exhibited increased tolerance to the fungal pathogen Sclerotium rolfsii, ranging from 42 to 63% reduction in lesion expansion.