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Genetic transformation of the figwort, Scrophularia buergeriana Miq., an Oriental medicinal plant

  • Genetic Transformation and Hybridization
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Abstract

Scrophularia buergeriana Miq. (figwort) contains a diverse group of bioactive natural products and is used to treat a variety of ailments, including fever, constipation, neuritis, and laryngitis. A transformation protocol was established for S. buergeriana using Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Kanamycin-resistant plants were regenerated from leaf explants co-cultivated with A. tumefaciens strain GV3101. The shoot regeneration medium was supplemented with 2 mg l-1 6-benzylaminopurine and 70 mg l-1 putrescine to improve the efficiency of organogenesis. Detection of the neomycin phosphotransferase gene, the presence of high levels of β-glucuronidase (GUS) transcripts and enzyme activity, and the histochemical localization of GUS confirmed the genetic transformation of S. buergeriana. This work demonstrates the potential of using A. tumefaciens to efficiently transfer foreign genes into a commercially and culturally important Oriental medicinal plant.

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Acknowledgements

S.-U.P. is the recipient of a research associateship offered through the Alberta Ingenuity Fund. P.J.F. is the Canada Research Chair in Plant Metabolic Processes Biotechnology. This work was funded by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, Canada

    S.-U. Park & P. J. Facchini

  2. School of Plant Science, Seoul National University, 441-744, Suwon, Korea

    Y.-A. Chae

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  1. S.-U. Park
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  2. Y.-A. Chae
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  3. P. J. Facchini
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Correspondence to P. J. Facchini.

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Communicated by L.C. Fowke

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Park, SU., Chae, YA. & Facchini, P.J. Genetic transformation of the figwort, Scrophularia buergeriana Miq., an Oriental medicinal plant. Plant Cell Rep 21, 1194–1198 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-003-0639-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-003-0639-0

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