Summary
Definitive evidence is presented for the first time for stable gene transfer to cultured cells in a plant of the family Gramineae, Lolium multiflorum (Italian Ryegrass), using DNA transformation of protoplasts from a non-morphogenic cell culture. A construction consisting of expression signals from gene VI of Cauliflower Mosaic virus joined to the aminoglycoside (neomycin) phosphotransferase gene (APH(3′)II) from transposon Tn5 conferred resistance to the antibiotic G-418 to cell colonies arising from transformed protoplasts. By demonstrating a tight correlation between the resistant phenotype, the physical presence of the foreign gene and the presence of the active gene product we have shown that these colonies are true transformants and that a gene which is expressed well in dicotyle-denous plants is also expressed in cells of graminaceous monocots.
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Communicated by H. Saedler
Dedicated to professor Georg Melchers to celebrate his 50-year association with the journal
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Potrykus, I., Saul, M.W., Petruska, J. et al. Direct gene transfer to cells of a graminaceous monocot. Molec Gen Genet 199, 183–188 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00330257
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00330257