Stable transformation of barley tissue culture by particle bombardment

Suspension culture cells of barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv Pokko) were stably transformed with two separate plasmids containing genes coding for neomycin phosphotransferase II and β-glucuronidase, respectively. Transformed cultures were selected with the antibiotic Geneticin(R). Enzymatic activity was tested in the Geneticin(R) resistant cultures, and in 96% of them neomycin phosphotransferase could be detected. The non-selected marker, detected as β-glucuronidase activity, was expressed in 40% of the resistant cultures. Stable transformation was confirmed with Southern blot hybridization.