Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Paper
  • Published:

Transformation of Poplar by Agrobacterium tumefaciens

Bio/Technology volume 4, pages 533–536 (1986)Cite this article

Abstract

The ability to regenerate plants from poplar cells cultured in vitro suggests that poplars may prove a valuable model system for the application of recombinant DNA technology to deciduous trees. We report here the transformation of a hybrid Populus trichocarpa × deltoides with two strains of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, as demonstrated by phytohormone autonomous growth, opine production, and Southern blot analysis.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Nester, E.W., Gordon, M.P., Amasino, R.M., and Yanofsky, M.F. 1984. Crown gall: A molecular and physiological analysis. Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. 35:387–413.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Hooykaas, P.J.J., and Schilperoort, R.A. 1984. The molecular genetics of crown gall tumorigenesis. Adv. Genet. 22:210–283.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Depicker, A., Van Montagu, M., and Schell, J. 1983. Plant cell transformation by Agrobacterium plasmids. p. 499–xxx. In: Genetic Engineering of Plants: An Agricultural Perspective. Kosuge, T., Meredith, C. P., and Hollaender, A. (eds). Plenum Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Powell, A.L.T., and Gordon, M.P. in preparation. In: The Biochemistry of Plants. A Comprehensive Treatise. A. Marcus (ed.). 2nd Edn. Academic Press, N.Y.

  5. Zambryski, P., Depicker, A., Kruger, D., and Goodman, H.M. 1982. Tumor induction by Agrobacterium tumefaciens: analysis of the boundaries of T-DNA. Mol. Gen. Genet. 1:361–370.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Yadav, N.S., Vanderleyden, J., Bennett, D.R., Barnes, W.M., and Chilton, M.-D. 1982. Short direct repeats flank the T-DNA on a nopaline Ti-plasmid. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 79:6322–6326.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Simpson, R.B., O'Hara, P.J., Kwok, J., Montoya, A.L., Lichenstein, C., Gordon, M.P., and Nester, E.W. 1982. DNA from the A6S/2 crown gall tumor contains scrambled Ti-plasmid sequences near its junction with plant DNA. Cell 29:1005–1014.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Akiyoshi, D.E., Klee, H., Amasino, R.M., Nester, E.W., and Gordon, M.P. 1984. T-DNA of Agrobacterium tumefaciens encodes an enzyme of cytokinin biosynthesis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 81:5994–5998.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Barry, G.F., Rogers, S.G., Fraley, R.T., and Brand, L. 1984. Identification of a cloned cytokinin biosynthetic gene. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 81:4776–4780.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Inze, D., Follin, A., Van Ligsebettens, M., Simoens, C., Genetello, D., Van Montagu, M., and Schell, J. 1984. Genetic analysis of the individual T-DNA genes of Agrobacterium tumefaciens; further evidence that two genes are involved in indole-3-acetic acid synthesis. Mol. Gen. Genet. 194:265–274.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Joos, H., Inze, D., Caplan, A., Sormann, M., Van Montagu, M., and Schell, J. 1983. Genetic analysis of T-DNA transcripts in nopaline crown galls. Cell 32:1057–1067.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Schroder, G., Waffenschmidt, S., Weiler, E.W., and Schroder, J. 1983. The T-region of Ti-plasmids codes for an enzyme synthesizing indole-3-acetic acid. EMBO 2:403–409.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Thomashow, L., Reeves, S., and Thomashow, M.F. 1984. Crown gall oncogenesis: evidence that a T-DNA gene from the Agrobacterium Ti-plasmid pTiA6 encodes an enzyme that catalyzes synthesis of indolacetic acid. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 81:5071–5075.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Montoya, A.L., Chilton, M.-D., Gordon, M.P., Sciaky, D., and Nester, E.W. 1977. Octopine and nopaline metabolism in Agrobacterium tumefaciens and crown gall tumor cells: role of plasmid genes. J. Bacteriol. 129:101–107.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. An, G., Watson, B.D., Stachel, S., Gordon, M.P., and Nester, E.W. 1985. New cloning vehicles for transformation of higher plants. EMBO 4:277–284.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Fraley, R.T., Rogers, S.G., Horsch, R.B., Eichholtz, D.A., Flick, J.S., Fink, C.L., Hoffman, N.L., and Sanders, P.R. 1985. The SEV system; a new disarmed Ti plasmid vector system for plant transformation. Bio/Technology 3:629–635.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Klee, H.J., Yanofsky, M.F., and Nester, E.W. 1985. Vectors for transformation of higher plants. Bio/Technology 3:637–642.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Klee, H.J., Gordon, M.P., and Nester, E.W. 1982. Complementation analysis of Agrobacterium tumefaciens Ti-plasmid mutations affecting oncogenicity. J. Bacteriol. 150:327–331.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Klee, H.S., White, F.F., Iyer, V.N., Gordon, M.P., and Nester, E.W. 1983. Mutational analysis of the virulence region of an Agrobacterium tumefaciens Ti-plasmid. J. Bacteriol. 153:878–883.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Hoekema, A., Hirsch, P.R., Hooykaas, R.J.J., and Schilperoort, R.A. 1983. A binary plant vector strategy based on separation of vir and T-region of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens Ti-plasmid. Nature 303:179–180.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. DeFramond, A., Barton, K.A., and Chilton, M.-D. 1983. Mini-Ti; A new vector strategy for plant genetic engineering. Bio/Technology 1:262–272.

    Google Scholar 

  22. DeCleene, M., and DeLey, J. 1976. The host range of crown gall. Bot. Rev. 42:389–466.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Chalupa, V. 1974. Control of root and shoot formation and production of trees from poplar callus. Biologia Plantarum (Praha) 16:316–320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Wolter, K.E. 1968. Root and shoot initiation in aspen callus cultures. Nature 219:509–510.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Douglas, D. 1982. Protoplast isolation from totipotent cell-cultures of Populus hybrid TT32. Proc. 5th Intl. Cong. Plant Tissue and Cell Culture, p. 605–606.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Dhillon, S.S., Miksche, J.P., and Cecich, R.A. 1984. DNA changes in senescing leaves of Populus deltoides. Plant Physiol. (Suppl.)75:120.

    Google Scholar 

  27. International Poplar Commission. 1979. Poplars and willows in wood production and land use. FAO Forestry Series, No. 10. Rome.

  28. Fege, A.S. 1983. The practice and physiological basis of collection, storing and planting Populus hardwood cuttings. Proc. of Workshop of Intensive Plantation Culture. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report NC-91, p. 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Heilman, P.E., and Stettler, R.F. 1985. Genetic variation and productivity of Populus trichocarpa T. & G. and its hybrids. II. Biomass production in a 4-year plantation. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 15:384–388.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Stettler, R.F., and Heilman, P.E. 1984. Short-rotation poplar culture in the Pacific Northwest: components of a genetic program. In: Ecology and Management of Forest Biomass Production Systems. Perttu, K. (ed.). Dept. Ecol. & Environ. Res., Swed. Univ. Agric. Sci. Rep. 15:217–232.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Sciaky, D., Montoya, A.L., and Chilton, M.-D. 1978. Fingerprints of Agrobacterium Ti-plasmids. Plasmid. 1:238–253.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Hood, E.E., Jen, G., Kayes, L., Kramer, J., Fraley, R.T., and Chilton, M.-D. 1984. Restriction endonuclease map of pTiBo542, a potential Ti plasmid vector for genetic engineering of plants. Bio/Technology 2:702–709.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Horsch, R.B., Fry, J.E., Hoffman, N.L., Eichholtz, D., Rogers, S.G., Fraley, R.T. 1985. A simple and general method for transferring genes into plants. Science 227:1229–1231.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Kwok, W. 1983. Ph.D. thesis, University of Washington.

  35. Thomashow, M.F., Nutter, R., Montoya, A.L., Gordon, M.P., Nester, E.W. 1980. Integration and organization of Ti-plasmid sequences in crown gall tumors. Cell 19:729–739.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Murashige, T., and Skoog, F. 1962. A revised medium for rapid growth and bioassays with tobacco tissue cultures. Physiol. Plant. 15:473–497.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Murray, M.G., and Thompson, W.F. 1980. Rapid isolation of high molecular weight plant DNA. Nucl. Acids Res. 8:4321–4325.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  38. Maniatis, T., Fritsch, E.F., Sambrook, J. 1982. Molecular Cloning. A laboratory manual. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Southern, E.M. 1975. Detection of specific sequences among DNA fragments separated by gel electrophoresis. J. Mol. Biol. 98:503–517.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195

    Thomas J. Parsons, Vilas P. Sinkar & Milton P. Gordon

  2. College of Forest Resources, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195

    Reinhard F. Stettler

  3. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195

    Eugene W. Nester

Authors
  1. Thomas J. Parsons
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Vilas P. Sinkar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Reinhard F. Stettler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Eugene W. Nester
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Milton P. Gordon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Parsons, T., Sinkar, V., Stettler, R. et al. Transformation of Poplar by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Nat Biotechnol 4, 533–536 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0686-533

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0686-533

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing