Delivery of foreign genes to intact barley cells by high-velocity microprojectiles

Foreign DNA was introduced through the cell walls of intact suspension culture cells of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) by utilizing the particle acceleration approach. DNA-coated microscopic tungsten particles were accelerated to velocities that permitted their penetration of intact cells. Chimaeric constructs of β-glucuronidase and neomycin phosphotransferase II under the control of the dual Agrobacterium TR 1'2' promoter or the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter served as reporter genes. Three days after particle delivery, high-level expression of both reporter genes was observed. That plasmid size could be critical for stabilizing DNA in the course of particle delivery will be discussed.