Efficient transformation of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) using a binary vector in Agrobacterium rhizogenes

We transformed three potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) genotypes by using A. rhizogenes or a mixture of A. rhizogenes and A. tumefaciens. Inoculations of potato stem segments were performed with Agrobacterium rhizogenes AM8703 containing two independent plasmids: the wild-type Ri-plasmid, pRI1855, and the binary vector plasmid, pBI121. In mixed inoculation experiments, Agrobacterium rhizogenes LBA1334 (pRI1855) and Agrobacterium tumefaciens AM8706 containing the disarmed Ti-plasmid (pAL4404) and the binary vector plasmid (pBI121) were mixed in a 1∶1 ratio. The T-DNA of the binary vector plasmid pBI121 contained two marker genes encoding neomycin phosphotransferase, which confers resistance to kanamycin, and β-glucuronidase. Both transformation procedures gave rise to hairy roots on potato stem segments within 2 weeks. With both procedures it was possible to obtain transformed hairy roots, able to grow on kanamycin and possessing β-glucuronidase activity, without selection pressure. The efficiency of the A. rhizogenes AM8703 transformation, however, was much higher than that of the "mixed" transformation. Up to 60% of the hairy roots resulting from the former transformation method were kanamycin resistant and possessed β-glucuronidase activity. There was no correlation between the height of the kanamycin resistance and that of the β-glucuronidase activity in a root clone. Hairy roots obtained from a diploid potato genotype turned out to be diploid in 80% of the cases. Transformed potato plants were recovered from Agrobacterium rhizogenes AM8703-induced hairy roots.