Optimization of factors affecting Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Micro-Tom tomatoes

Micro-Tom is the smallest known variety of tomatoes. An orthogonal experimental design L(16) (4(5)) was used to optimize Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of cotyledon explants of Lycopersicon esculentum cv. Micro-Tom. Four parameters were investigated to determine their effect on transformation frequency: the concentration of bacterial suspension, time of dip in bacterial suspension, co-cultivation time, and concentration of carbenicillin. We also examined the effect of these parameters on contamination rate, necrosis rate, mortality, cut-surface browning rate, and undamaged explant rate. Both the bacterial and carbenicillin concentrations had a significant influence on the rate of infected explants. The time of co-cultivation also had a significant influence on the transformation parameters. The optimal transformation protocol consisted of an Agrobacterium suspension of 0.5 × 10(8) cells/mL (OD(600) = 0.5) and an infection time of 5 min, one day of co-cultivation and 500 mg/L carbenicillin. Under these conditions, the transformation efficiency of the shoots reached 5.1%; the mean transformation frequency was 3.9% (N = 838).