PIG-mediated cassava transformation using positive and negative selection

In order to develop new selection systems for production of transgenic cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), two different selection regimes were assessed for their efficiency on regeneration of transgenic cassava plants: positive selection using mannose and negative selection using hygromycin. Explants from somatic cotyledons and embryogenic suspensions were used as target tissues in the transformation experiments and bombarded using the particle inflow gun. Different culture and selection strategies were assessed to optimise the selection protocols. For the first time transgenic plants could be obtained using positive, and in the case of embryogenic suspensions, hygromycin-based negative selection. The stably transformed nature of the regenerated cassava plant lines and the expression of the transgenes were verified with PCR, RT-PCR, Southern and northern analyses. A rooting test for transgenic plants on a medium supplemented with mannose was developed to further improve the efficacy of the positive selection system. Our results demonstrate that it is possible to obtain transgenic cassava plants using non-antibiotic positive selection.