Abstract
Here we report success of a chloroplast transformation in a poplar (Populus alba) cell. Plastid transformation was performed with poplar leaves by particle bombardment using the chloroplast transforming vector pCB1GFP that carries the coding sequences for a spectinomycin resistance gene (aadA) and a green fluorescence protein gene. From the 40 bombarded leaves, 106 spectinomycin resistant green calli were obtained on selection medium while most leaf sections became bleached. A green fluorescent cell was observed in 17 calli of the 106 calli. The genomic DNA was isolated from 3 of the 17 calli and analyzed by PCR. PCR analysis confirmed that the introduced genes were site-specifically integrated into the plastid genome of the poplar in the all analyzed calli. Regeneration of transformed poplar from calli is in progress. To our knowledge, this is the first report on chloroplast transformation for trees. This work is partly supported by METI.
