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Updated: Nov 10, 2025
Author Spotlight: Streamlining Composite Plant Production via Agrobacterium rhizogenes-Mediated Hairy Root Transformation
Published on: June 30, 2023
A Root Tip-Specific Expressing Anthocyanin Marker for Direct Identification of Transgenic Tissues by the Naked Eye in
Yiting Ruan1, Ke Chen2, Yangyang Su2
1CAS-JIC Center of Excellence for Plant and Microbial Science (CEPAMS), Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences (CEMPS), Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology (SIPPE), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200030, China.
Abstract:
The Agrobacterium rhizogenes hairy root transformation system is widely used in symbiotic studies of model legumes. It typically relies on fluorescent reporters, such as DsRed, for identification of transgenic roots. The MtLAP1 transcription factor has been utilized as a reporter system in Medicago truncatula based on production of anthocyanin pigment. Here, we describe a version of this reporter driven by a root-cap specific promoter for direct observation of anthocyanin accumulation in root tips, which allows the identification of transgenic hairy roots by the naked eye. Results from our analysis suggest that the reporter had no significant effects on nodulation of M. truncatula. This approach, by virtue of its strong and specific expression in root cap cells, greatly reduces false positives and false negatives, and its use of an easily scored visible pigment should allow greater versatility and efficiency in root biology studies.
