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Genetic transformation of prickly-pear cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) by Agrobacterium tumefaciens

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Abstract

A system for genetic transformation of an elite prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica L., cultivar Villa Nueva) by Agrobacterium tumefaciens was developed. Beginning with direct bacterial infection by using a hypodermic syringe to the meristematic tissue termed areoles, transgenic plants were obtained by selection with 100 mg l−1 kanamycin. Transient and stable GUS activities were monitored on kanamycin-resistant shoots and regenerated plants, respectively. Genetic transformation of regenerated plants growing under selection was demonstrated by PCR and Southern blot analysis; transgene copy number in the genome of transgenic plants ranged from two to six, while the transformation frequency obtained by the system reported here was of 3.2%. This method may be useful for routine transformation and introduction of several important genes in prickly pear cactus.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. J.L Cabrera-Ponce from CINVESTAV-IPN for technical help, and CONCYTEG, OMNILIFE, CONACYT, COSNET and DGETA-SEP, Mexico for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Tecnológico Agropecuario de Aguascalientes, Km. 18 Carr, San Luis Potosí, México

    H. Silos-Espino & E. Rodríguez-Salazar

  2. Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Unidad Irapuato, Apdo. Postal 629, Irapuato, Gto, 36500, México

    A. Valdez-Ortiz & O. Paredes-López

  3. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Cd. Universitaria s/n Chihuahua, Chih, C.P. 31170, México

    Q. Rascón-Cruz

Authors
  1. H. Silos-Espino
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  2. A. Valdez-Ortiz
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  3. Q. Rascón-Cruz
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  4. E. Rodríguez-Salazar
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  5. O. Paredes-López
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Correspondence to O. Paredes-López.

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Silos-Espino, H., Valdez-Ortiz, A., Rascón-Cruz, Q. et al. Genetic transformation of prickly-pear cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) by Agrobacterium tumefaciens . Plant Cell Tiss Organ Cult 86, 397–403 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-006-9123-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-006-9123-1

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