Abstract
Including lipoic acid (LA) in culture media during Agrobacterium transformation processes of four crop species has significantly improved the transformation methods of the crops, even for previously recalcitrant genotypes. Plant transformation efficiency of soybean was significantly increased from 0.6% to 3.7% and tomato from 29.8% to 87.0%. Transformation efficiency was doubled from 2.8% to 5.7% in wheat. The frequency of glyphosate-resistant embryos had a significant increase from 41.4% to 61.2% in cotton. Regeneration of non-transgenic shoots under selection (“shoot escapes”) was significantly reduced in tomato from 91.5% to 46.2% while in soybean from 92.0% to 72.0% under optimal conditions. This study also demonstrated that the increase of transformation efficiency in tomato was accompanied by as much as a significant 2-fold reduction in severity of browning of Agrobacterium-infected plant tissues and up to a significant 3-fold increase in the percentage of explants with a high level of transient gene expression. LA application in plant transformation has enabled the resolution of three common problems in plant transformation: browning or necrosis of the transformed cells or tissues, difficulty in regenerating transformed cells or tissues, and shoot escapes, which severely limit the number of transgenic plants that can be regenerated.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cervera M.; Juarez J.; Navarro A.; Pina J. A.; Duran-Vila N.; Navarro L.; Pena L. Genetic transformation and regeneration of mature tissue of woody fruit plants bypassing the juvenile stage. Transgenic Res 7: 51–59; 1998.
Barry G.; Kishore G.; Padgette S.; Taylor M.; Kolacz K.; Weldon M.; Re D.; Eichholtz D.; Fincher D.; Hallas L. Inhibitors of amino acid biosynthesis: strategies for imparting glyphosate tolerance to crop plants. In: Sinch B. K.; Flores H. E.; Shannon J. C. (eds) Biosynthesis and molecular regulation of amino acids in plants. American Society of Plant Physiologists, Rochville, pp139–145; 1992.
Dan Y.; Munyikawa T.; Rayford K.; Rommens C. Use of lipoic acid in plant culture media. US Patent Pub. No.: US 2004/0133938 A1; (http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1 = PTO2&Sect2 = HITOFF&p = 1&u = %2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r = 1&f = G&l = 50&co1 = AND&d = PG01&s1 = %22Dan+Yinghui%22&OS=“Dan+Yinghui”&RS=“Dan+Yinghui”)
Dan Y.; Yan H.; Munyikwa T.; Dong J.; Zhang Y.; Armstrong C. L. MicroTom—a high-throughput model transformation system for functional genomics. Plant Cell Rep 25: 432–441; 2006.
Enriquez-Obregon G. A.; Vazquez-Padron R. I.; Prieto-Samsonov D. L.; Perez M.; Selman-Housein G. Genetic transformation of sugarcane by Agrobacterium tumefaciens using antioxidants compounds. Biotechno. Appl 14: 169–174; 1997.
Enríquez-Obregón G.; Prieto-Samsónov D.; Riva G.; Pérez M.; Selman-Housein G.; Vázquez-Padrón R. I. Agrobacterium-mediated japonica rice transformation: a procedure assisted by an antinecrotic treatment. Plant Cell Tiss Organ Cult 59: 159–168; 1999.
James C. Global status of commercialized biotech/GM crops: 2005. In: ISAAA Briefs 34–2006. 2006.
James D. J.; Passey A. J.; Barbara D. J.; Bevan M. Genetic transformation of apple (Malus pumila Mill) using a disarmed Ti-binary vector. Plant Cell Rep 7: 658–661; 1989.
Jefferson R. A. Assaying chimeric genes in plants: the GUS gene fusion system. Plant Mol Biol Rep 5: 387–405; 1987.
Jeon J.; Lee S.; Jung K.; Jun S.; Jeong D.; Lee J.; Kim C.; Jang S.; Lee S.; Yang K.; Nam J.; An K.; Han M.; Sung R.; Choi H.; Yu J.; Choi J.; Cho S.; Cha S.; Kim S.; An G. T-DNA insertional mutagenesis for functional genomics in rice. Plant J 22: 561–570; 2000.
Lagudah E.; Dubcovsky J.; Powell W. Wheat genomics. Plant Physiol Biochem 39: 335–344; 2001.
Lee M.; Kim H.; Kim J.; Kim S.; Park Y. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system for large-scale production of transgenic Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp pekinensis) plants for insertional mutagenesis. J Plant Biol 47: 300–306; 2004.
May G. D.; Afza R.; Mason H. S.; Wiecko A.; Novak F. J.; Arntzen C. J. Generation of transgenic banana (Musa acuminata) plants via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Bio/Technology 13: 486–492; 1995.
Moore G. A.; Jacono C. C.; Neidigh J. L.; Lawrence S. D.; Cline K. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of citrus stem segments and regeneration of transgenic plants. Plant Cell Rep 11: 238–242; 1992.
Mourgues F.; Chevreau E.; Lambert C.; Bondt A. Efficient Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and recovery of transgenic plants from pear (Pyrus communis L.). Plant Cell Rep 16: 245–249; 1996.
Mozsar J.; Viczian O.; Sule S. Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation of an interspecific grapevine. Vitis 373: 127–130; 1998.
Nomura K.; Matsumoto S.; Masuda K.; Inoue M. Reduced glutathione promotes callus growth and shoot development in a shoot tip culture of apple root stock M.26. Plant Cell Rep 178: 597–600; 1998.
Olhoft P. M.; Flagel L. E.; Donovan C. M.; Somers D. A. Efficient soybean transformation using hygromycin B selection in the cotyledonary-node method. Planta 216: 723–35; 2003.
Ostergaard L.; Yanofsky M. Establishing gene function by mutagenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant J 39: 682–696; 2004.
Packer L.; Tritschler H. Alpha-lipoic acid: The metabolic antioxidant. Free Radical Biol Med 20: 625–626; 1996.
Packer L.; Tritschler H.; Wessel K. Neuroprotection by the metabolic antioxidant alpha-lipoic acid. Free Radical Biol Med 22: 359–378; 1997.
Packer L.; Witt E.; Tritschler H. Alpha-lipoic acid as a biological antioxidant. Free Radical Biol Med 19: 227–250; 1995.
Pena L.; Cervera M.; Juarez J.; Navarro A.; Pina J. A.; Duran-Vila N.; Navarro L. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of sweet orange and regeneration of transgenic plants. Plant Cell Rep 14: 616–619; 1995a.
Pena L.; Cervera M.; Juarez J.; Navarro A.; Pina J. A.; Navarro L. Genetic transformation of lime (Citrus aurantifolia Swing.): factors affecting transformation and regeneration. Plant Cell Rep 16: 731–737; 1997.
Pena L.; Cervera M.; Juarez J.; Ortega C.; Pina J. A.; Duran-Vila N.; Navarro L. High-efficiency Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and regeneration of citrus. Plant Sci 104: 183–191; 1995b.
Pereira A. A. Transgenic perspective on plant functional genomics. Transgenic Res 9: 245–260; 2000.
Perl A.; Lotan O.; Abu-Abied M.; Holland D. Establishment of an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system for grape (Vitis vinifera L.): the role of antioxidants during grape-Agrobacterium interactions. Nat Biotechnol 14: 624–628; 1996.
Rogers S. G. Promoter for transgenic plants. US Patent No. 05378619; 1990.
Stipic M.; Rotino G. L.; Piro F. Regeneration and genetic transformation attempts in the cauliflower ‘Tardivo di Fano’. Italus Hortus 7: 20–26; 2000.
Toldi O.; Tóth S.; Pónyi T.; Scott P. An effective and reproducible transformation protocol for the model resurrection plant Craterostigma plantagineum Hochst. Plant Cell Rep. 211: 63–69; 2002.
Tyagi A.; Mohanty A. Rice transformation for crop improvement and functional genomics. Plant Sci 158: 1–18; 2000.
Vancanneyt G.; Schmidt R.; O’Connor-Sanchez A.; Willmitzer L.; Rocha-Sosa M. Construction of an intron-containing marker gene: Splicing of the intron in transgenic plants and its use in monitoring early events in Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation. Mol Gen Genet 220: 245–250; 1990.
Yang Y.; Peng H.; Huang H.; Wu J.; Ha S.; Huang D.; Lu T. Large-scale production of enhancer trapping lines for rice functional genomics. Plant Sci 167: 281–288; 2004.
Zheng Q. S.; Ju B.; Liang L. K.; Xiao X. H. Effects of antioxidants on the plant regeneration and GUS expressive frequency of peanut (Arachis hypogaea) explants by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Plant Cell Tiss Org Cult 811: 83–89; 2005.
Acknowledgement
The authors thank Dr. Caius M. Rommens for his helpful idea and encouragement of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Editor: J. Ranch
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dan, Y., Armstrong, C.L., Dong, J. et al. Lipoic acid—an unique plant transformation enhancer. In Vitro Cell.Dev.Biol.-Plant 45, 630–638 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11627-009-9227-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11627-009-9227-5