Abstract:

A plant expression vector pCAMBIA3300-Pta-Cry1Ac harboring two insecticidal genes was constructed and employed in Agrobacterium-mediated tomato transformation by using cotyledons as the explants. We harvested 24 phosphinothricin(PPT0-resistant independent regenerated plantlets after co-culture, selection culture and regeneration. PCR and Southern blot hybridization analyses confirmed that the two target genes were successfully integrated into 8 lines of tomato transformants. Bioassay of transgenic tomatos using insect larvae showed that transgenic plants were conferred with increased insect-resistance compared to untransformed plants. This study laid a potential foundation for the further research on tomato insect-resistance and for the tomato genetic improvement.

Key words: Agrobacterium tumefaciens; Tomato; insecticidal gene;Genetic transformation; Insect-resistance