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Production of purple-colored creeping bentgrass using maize transcription factor genes Pl and Lc through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation

Plant Cell Reports volume 28, pages 397–406 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Purple-colored transgenic creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.) plants were developed for ornamental purpose by means of Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Embryogenic creeping bentgrass calli were transformed with the pCAMBIA 3301 vector harboring maize (Zea mays) flavonoid/anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway transcription factor genes, Lc (Leaf color) and Pl (Purple leaf), individually and in combination, and three types of putative transgenic plants (Lc, Pl, and Lc + Pl) were generated. Genomic integration and expression of the transgenes were confirmed by Southern and northern blot analyses, respectively. The transgenic creeping bentgrass plants expressing both Lc and Pl genes were entirely purple, whereas those expressing Pl alone had purple stems and those expressing Lc alone lacked purple pigmentation in adult plants. The anthocyanin content was estimated in all the three types of transgenic plant and correlated well with the degree of purple coloration observed. These results suggest that both Lc and Pl genes are necessary and sufficient to confer purple coloration to creeping bentgrass.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Kumho Life Science Laboratory in Chonnam National University for providing plant growth facilities. This work was supported by the BioGreen 21 Program (Code # 20080401034014), Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea, and the KOSEF/MOST to the Environmental Biotechnology National Core Research Center (NCRC) (Grant # R15-2003-012-01003-0).

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology and Kumho Life Science Laboratory, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 500-757, South Korea

    Yun-Jeong Han, Yong-Min Kim, Jee-Yeon Lee, Soo Jung Kim, Kyu-Chang Cho, Thummala Chandrasekhar & Jeong-Il Kim

  2. Faculty of Biotechnology and Subtropical Horticulture Research Institute, Cheju National University, Jeju, 690-756, South Korea

    Pill-Soon Song

  3. Environmental Biotechnology National Core Research Center, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, 660-701, South Korea

    Thummala Chandrasekhar, Pill-Soon Song & Jeong-Il Kim

  4. Department of Life Science, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, 790-784, Republic of Korea

    Young-Min Woo

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  1. Yun-Jeong Han
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  2. Yong-Min Kim
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Correspondence to Jeong-Il Kim.

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Communicated by J. Register.

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Han, YJ., Kim, YM., Lee, JY. et al. Production of purple-colored creeping bentgrass using maize transcription factor genes Pl and Lc through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Plant Cell Rep 28, 397–406 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-008-0648-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-008-0648-0

Keywords

  • Agrobacterium
  • Anthocyanin
  • Creeping bentgrass
  • Lc
  • Pl
  • Transformation