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A leaf-based regeneration and transformation system for maize (Zea mays L.)

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Abstract

Efficient methods for in vitro propagation, regeneration, and transformation of plants are of pivotal importance to both basic and applied research. While being the world’s major food crops, cereals are among the most difficult-to-handle plants in tissue culture which severely limits genetic engineering approaches. In maize, immature zygotic embryos provide the predominantly used material for establishing regeneration-competent cell or callus cultures for genetic transformation experiments. The procedures involved are demanding, laborious and time consuming and depend on greenhouse facilities. We have developed a novel tissue culture and plant regeneration system that uses maize leaf tissue and thus is independent of zygotic embryos and greenhouse facilities. We report here: (i) a protocol for the efficient induction of regeneration-competent callus from maize leaves in the dark, (ii) a protocol for inducing highly regenerable callus in the light, and (iii) the use of leaf-derived callus for the generation of stably transformed maize plants.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Syngenta for the gift of vector pNOV2820. We thank the MPI-MP Green Team for plant care and cultivation. Mohammad Ahmadabadi is the recipient of a fellowship from the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This research was supported by the Max Planck Society. Support from Monsanto Co., St. Louis, USA, during the early phase of this work is gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie, Am Mühlenberg 1, D-14476, Potsdam-Golm, Germany

    Mohammad Ahmadabadi, Stephanie Ruf & Ralph Bock

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  1. Mohammad Ahmadabadi
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  2. Stephanie Ruf
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  3. Ralph Bock
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Correspondence to Ralph Bock.

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Ahmadabadi, M., Ruf, S. & Bock, R. A leaf-based regeneration and transformation system for maize (Zea mays L.). Transgenic Res 16, 437–448 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-006-9046-y

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