Chin J Plant Ecol ›› 2005, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (2): 338-344.DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2005.0044

• Original article • Previous Articles    

AGROBACTERIUM TUMEFACIENS-MEDIATED TRANSGENIC WHEAT PLANTS WITH GLUTAMINE SYNTHETASES CONFER TOLERANCE TO HERBICIDE

HUANG Qi-Man1, LIU Wei-Hua2, SUN Hui1, DENG Xin2, SU Jin1,*()   

  1. 1 Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
    2 Institule of Crop Germplasm Resources, Chinese Academy of Agriculural Sciences, Bejing 100081, China
  • Received:2004-01-10 Accepted:2004-09-21 Online:2005-01-10 Published:2005-03-10
  • Contact: SU Jin
  • About author:*E-mail:huangqiman@hotmail.com
  • Supported by:
    National Special Program for Research and Industrialization of Transgenic Plants(J2000-B-006);National Natural Science Foundation of China(39980025)

Abstract:

Cloning of cytosolic (GS1) cDNA and chloroplast glutamine synthetase (GS2) cDNA from Pisum satium was carried out previously in our laboratory. To identify the functions of the GS genes, we first constructed a plant expression vector, p2GS, harboring two different isoenzymes, GS1 and GS2 cDNAs, under the control of two constitutive promoters of rice, Actin1 (Act1) and maize Ubiquitin (Ubi) genes. Then, using an Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation method, we introduced GS1 and GS2 genes into wheat (Triticum aestivum) plants, producing 2GS-transgenic wheat plants using immature embryos as the explants. Presence of the transgenes GS1 and GS2 in wheat plants was confirmed by PCR and Southern blot hybridization analyses. Forty-one independent transgenic wheat plants with tolerance to an herbicide (Phosphinothricin, PPT) were generated. Results from Basta tests showed that the 2GS-transgenic wheat plants were endowed with herbicide-tolerant properties. Almost all of the transgenic plants were normal in morphology, and seed production was similar to that of the control wheat plants. Our study suggest that PPT resistance is conferred by effective expression of glutamine synthetases in transformed wheat plants, and glutamine synthetase genes can serve as a selective marker gene of wheat transformation system in our study.

Key words: Glutamine synthetases, Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation, Transgenic wheat, Herbicide-tolerance