To select somatic hybrids of carrot and ginseng by protoplast fusion, E. coli β-glucuronidase (GUS) gene as a marker was introduced to carrot genome by using a binary vector system of Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Protoplasts were enzymatically isolated...
To select somatic hybrids of carrot and ginseng by protoplast fusion, E. coli β-glucuronidase (GUS) gene as a marker was introduced to carrot genome by using a binary vector system of Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Protoplasts were enzymatically isolated from carrot suspension culture and regenerated into whole plants via somatic embryogenesis after 8 weeks of culture. Protoplasts of carrot and ginseng labeled with fluorcsccin isothiocyanate and rhodamine isothiocyanate, respectively, were fused by polyethylene glycol. An intermediate stage in fusion was observed under cpiscopic illumination. pBI 121 harboring CaMV 35s promoter-GUS fusion was introduced into A. tumefaciens to transform carrot. Hypocotyl and cotyledon explants were co-cultivated with A. tumefaciens carrying pBI 121 on a medium containg 200 ㎎/ℓ kanamycin. Kanamycin-resistant calli were formed after 3 to 4 weeks of culture. Production of agropine and mannopinc was detected in the resistant calli by paper electrophoresis. Southern and Northern blotting analyses confirmed that the resistant calli were transformed with GUS gene. High GUS activities were detected in transformed calli by spectrophotometric and histochemical assays. Roots were sporadically induced from a few of the calli, and a preliminary histochemical assay revealed that GUS gene under CaMV 35s promoter was preferentially expressed in the vascular bundle and the lateral root primordium compared to the hair and the apical meristem.