Herbicide-tolerant Transgenic Pineapple ( Ananas comosus) Produced by Microprojectile Bombardment

• Published in: Annals of botany Vol. 88; no. 4; pp. 597 - 603
• Main Authors: Sripaoraya, S., Marchant, R., Power, J.B., Davey, M.R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Science Ltd 01.10.2001; Oxford University Press; Academic Press; Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
• Subjects: bar gene; bar gene, Biolistics, herbicide tolerance, pineapple, phosphinothricin (PPT); Biolistics; DNA; Genes; Herbicide resistance; herbicide tolerance; Herbicides; Leaves; phosphinothricin (PPT); pineapple; Plants; Polymerase chain reaction; Quaternary ammonium compounds; Transgenes; Transgenic plants; bar gene, Biolistics, herbicide tolerance, pineapple, phosphinothricin (PPT)
• ISSN: 0305-7364; 1095-8290
• DOI: 10.1006/anbo.2001.1502

Transformed plants of the commercially important Thai pineapple ( Ananas comosus‘Phuket’) were produced following microprojectile-mediated delivery of the plasmid AHC25, carrying the β-glucuronidase ( gus) reporter gene and the bialaphos resistance ( bar) gene for herbicide tolerance, into leaves of micropropagated shoots. Transformed plants were regenerated from bombarded leaf bases on Murashige and Skoog-based medium containing 0.5 mg l −12,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, 2.0 mg l −16-benzylamino purine and 0.5 mg l −1phosphinothricin. Integration and expression of the bar gene in regenerated plants was confirmed by Southern analysis and RT-PCR, respectively. Regenerated plants were assessed in vitro and under glasshouse conditions for their tolerance to the commercial herbicide Basta ™, containing glufosinate ammonium as the active component. Plants sprayed with Basta ™containing concentrations of glufosinate ammonium up to 1400 mg l −1remained healthy and retained their pigmentation. The generation of herbicide-tolerant pineapple will facilitate more efficient weed control in this widely cultivated tropical crop.