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Overexpression of the Arabidopsis gai gene in apple significantly reduces plant size

  • Genetic Transformation and Hybridization
  • Published:
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Abstract

Genetic engineering is an attractive method to obtain dwarf plants in order to eliminate the extensive use of growth retardants in horticultural crop production. In this study, we evaluated the potential of using the Arabidopsis gai (gibberellic acid insensitive) gene to dwarf apple trees. The gai gene under 35S promoter was introduced in the apple rootstock A2 and the cultivars Gravenstein and McIntosh through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. One transgenic clone was recovered for Gravenstein and McIntosh, and several transgenic clones for A2, confirmed by Southern blot analysis. Two weak bands were detected by Southern blot analysis in all the untransformed controls, possibly indicating the existence of the internal GAI gene in apple. Most of the transgenic plants showed reduced growth in vitro. Growth analyses in the greenhouse showed a clear reduction in stem length, internode length and node number for the dwarf clones. The normal phenotype of some transgenic clones appears to be associated with silencing of the introduced gai gene, confirmed by RT–PCR analysis. In general, transgenic clones showed reduced rooting ability, especially for the extremely compact ones.

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Abbreviations

BAP:

Benzylamino purine

TDZ:

Thidiazuron

NAA:

α-Naphthaleneacetic acid

GA:

Gibberellin

gai :

Gibberellic acid insensitive

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Mr. M. Nyqvist for obtaining transgenic Gravenstein and McIntosh plants, Mrs. Annelie Ahlman for laboratory assistance, Dr. Zhongtian Xue for his advice in preparing the vector. The Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS) and The Royal Physiographic Society in Lund for the fianacial support to this research, Pioneer for the permission of using the gai gene, and Prof. Nick Harberd as well as Plant Bioscience Limited for providing the gai gene and Prof. Detlef Weigel for providing the pDW146 plasmid.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 44, 230-53, Alnarp, Sweden

    L. H. Zhu, X. Y. Li & M. Welander

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  1. L. H. Zhu
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  2. X. Y. Li
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  3. M. Welander
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Correspondence to L. H. Zhu.

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Communicated by L. Peña.

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Zhu, L.H., Li, X.Y. & Welander, M. Overexpression of the Arabidopsis gai gene in apple significantly reduces plant size. Plant Cell Rep 27, 289–296 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-007-0462-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-007-0462-0

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