Summary
A biolistic particle gun was used to deliver genetic material into intact yam cells. Cultured suspension cells of D. alata were bombarded with microprojectiles coated with pBI221.2 DNA and histochemical assays were carried out to show transient GUS expression in bombarded cells. Stably transformed D. alata cells were recovered from cultured cells after bombardment with microprojectiles coated with pRT99gus harbouring both the nptII and uidA genes. Bombarded cells were selected on a medium containing geneticin (G418). Two months after bombardment, calli resistant to G418 were assayed for GUS expression. There was a 100% correlation between resistance to G418 and GUS expression. From these calli, four cell lines were established and GUS activity in each line was determined fluorometrically. The use of a specific GUS inhibitor showed that the GUS activity was due to the introduced uidA gene rather than to any intrinsic GUS-like activity originating from the plant. Incorporation of the introduced DNA into the plant genomic DNA was confirmed by Southern analysis.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- GUS:
-
β-glucuronidase
- MU:
-
4-Methylumbelliferone
- MUG:
-
4-Methylumbelliferyl-β-D-glucuronide
- PVP:
-
Polyvinylpyrrolidone
- SDS:
-
Sodium dodecyl sulphate
- TAE:
-
Tris-acetate-EDTA buffer
- X-Gluc:
-
5-Bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-β-D-glucuronide
References
Ammirato PV (1984) In: Ammirato PV, Evans DA, Sharp WR and Yamada Y, (eds) Handbook of Plant Cell Culture. Macmillan, New York pp. 327–354.
Coursey DG (1967) Yams. Longmans, London.
Creissen G, Smith C, Francis R, Reynolds H and Mullineaux P (1990) Plant Cell Reports 8:680–683.
Degras L (1986) In: Maisonneuve G-P et Larose, (ed) L'igname: Plante a Tubercule Tropicale. Techniques Agricoles et Productions Tropicales. Paris.
Draper J and Scott R (1988) In: Draper RSJ, Armitage P and Walden R (eds) Plant Genetic Transformation and Gene Expression. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford pp. 199–136.
Finer JJ and McMullen MD (1990) Plant Cell Reports 8:586–589.
Fromm ME, Morrish F, Armstrong C, Williams R, Thomas J and Klein TM (1990) Bio/Technology 8:833–839
Gordon-Kamm WJ, Spencer TM, Mangano ML, Adams TR, Daines RJ, Start WG, O'Brien JV, Chambers SA, Adams WR, Willets NG, Rice TB, Mackey CJ, Krueger RW, Kausch AP and Lemaux PG (1990) The Plant Cell 2:603–618.
Hahn SK, Osiru DSO, Akoroda AO and Otoo A (1987) Outlook on Agriculture 16:105–110.
Jefferson RA (1987) Plant Molecular Biology Reporter 5:387–405.
Jefferson RA, Kavanagh TA and Bevan MW (1987) EMBO J. 6:3901–3907.
Klein TM, Wolf ED, Wu R and Sanford JC (1987) Nature 327:70–73.
Klein TM, Gradziel T, Fromm ME and Sanford JC (1988) Bio/Technology 6:559–563.
Lassner MW, Peterson P and Yoder JI (1989) Plant Molecular Biology Reporter 7:116–128.
Mendel RR, Müller B, Schulze J, Kolesnikov V and Zelenin A (1989) Theoretical Applied Genetics 78:31–34.
Mendel RR, Clauss E, Hellmund R, Schulze J, Steinbiss, HH and Tewes A (1990) In: Nijkamp HJJ, Van Der Plas LHW and Van Aartrijk J (eds) Progress in Plant Cellular and Molecular Biology. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, pp. 73–78.
Onwueme IC (1978) The Tropical Tuber Crops. Yams, Cassava, Sweet Potato and Cocoyams. John Wiley & Sons., Chichester, New York.
Paskowski J and Saul MW (1986) Methods in Enzymology 118:668–684.
Potrykus I (1990) Bio/Technology 8:535–542.
Sadik S (1976) A review of sexual propagation for yam improvement. Fourth Symp. Int'l. Soc. Tropical Root Crops, CIAT, Call, Colombia, International Development Research Centre.
Sambrook J, Fritsch EF and Maniatis T (dy1989) Molecular Cloning. A laboratory manual. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
Schäfer W, Görz A and Kahl G (1987) Nature 327:529–532.
Spencer TM, Gordon-Kamm WJ, Daines RJ, Start WG and Lemaux PG (1990) Theoretical Applied Genetics 79:625–631.
Töpfer R, Schell J and Steinbiss H-H (1988) Nucleic Acid Research 16:8725.
Tör M (1991) Ph.D. Dissertation, University of London, England.
Tör M, Mantell SH and Ainsworth C (1992) Plant Cell Reports 11:452–456.
Twyford CT (1992) Ph.D. Dissertation (in preparation), University of London, England.
Vasil V, Castillo AM, Fromm ME and Vasil IK (1992) Bio/Technology 10:667–674.
Waldon R (1988) Genetic Transformation in Plants. Open University Press, Milton Keynes.
Wilson LA (1986) In: Harlevy AA (ed), Handbook of Flowering. CRC Press Florida, pp 450–454.
Xinhua F, Qiquan S and Xingcun J (1986) Genetic Manipulation Crops Newsletter 2:52–59.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by I. Potrykus
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tör, M., Ainsworth, C. & Mantell, S.H. Stable transformation of the food yam Dioscorea alata L. by particle bombardment. Plant Cell Reports 12, 468–473 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00234714
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00234714