Simple and efficient biolistic procedure for the plant transfection with cDNA clones of RNA viruses.

Simple, fast, low-cost, and efficient procedure for DNA delivery to the cell nuclei of whole plants was developed. The procedure was optimized for the Plum pox virus (PPV) and its host Nicotiana benthamiana. It is based on the leaf bombardment with tungsten microparticles with bound DNA using common air gun. The procedure did not require special equipment and source of driving gas. The transfection efficiency obtained by the newly developed procedure was close to 100%, but this level dropped with the age of bombarded plants.