Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated beta-glucuronidase (GUS) gene expression in lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) tissues

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) shoot apex, epicotyl, and root expiants were capable of expressing an intron-containing beta-glucuronidase (GUS) gene after inoculation with the disarmed Agrobacterium strain GV2260:p35SGUSINT. Expression occurred at all wound sites on these expiants except at the end of the root expiants proximal to the cotyledonary node. GUS expression was detected using both histochemical and fluorescence assays and was stable for at least nine days after inoculation for epicotyl and root expiants, and for at least seventeen days for shoot apices. Non-inoculated controls, or controls inoculated with an Agrobacterium strain lacking the GUS gene, did not produce any background blue staining in the histochemical assay. Expression levels for all lentil expiants were substantially lower than for comparable flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) expiants which served as a positive control.