Development of a genetic transformation method for seabuckthorn ( Hippophae rhamnoides L.).

Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) is a dioecious plant with berries containing highamounts of several bioactive compounds with nutritional and medicinal traits. It is also planted tocontrol soil erosion. A genetic transformation procedure will facilitate studies of the control ofplant development and interactions with symbionts and pathogens, and will provide a tool forplant breeding. Here, we present a particle bombardment method for transforming seabuckthorn.The early stages of induced adventitious shoots from roots were chosen as a novel target tissue forthe transformation procedure. The root system was bombarded with gold particles coated withplasmid pRT99gus containing genes for plant kanamycin resistance and for β-glucuronidase expression,and shoots were regenerated under kanamycin selection. PCR analysis of the regeneratedtransformed lines confirmed the presence of a 603 bp gus (uidA) gene fragment and a 1.5 kbfragment from the 35S promoter in three shoots from independent transformation events.