Early infection of scutellum tissue with <i>Agrobacterium</i> allows high‐speed transformation of rice

TLDR

Several approaches have recently been adopted to improve Agrobacterium‑mediated transformation of rice, yet about three months of in‑vitro culture are still required to isolate transgenic plants. Here, we report that scutellum tissue from one‑day pre‑cultured seeds is competent for Agrobacterium‑mediated transformation. Early infection of rice seeds with Agrobacterium enables rapid selection of transformed calli, allowing regeneration of transgenic plantlets within a month, reducing somaclonal variation, and thereby facilitating molecular breeding.

Abstract

Summary Several approaches have recently been adopted to improve Agrobacterium ‐mediated transformation of rice, both to generate the large number of T‐DNA insertion plants needed for functional analysis of the rice genome, and for production of rice with additional agronomical value. However, about 3 months of in vitro culture is still required for isolation of transgenic rice plants. Here, we report the competency of scutellum tissue from 1‐day pre‐cultured seeds for Agrobacterium ‐mediated transformation. Furthermore, early infection of rice seeds with Agrobacterium enhanced efficient selection of transformed calli. Using our system, we successfully regenerated transgenic rice plantlets within a month of the start of the aseptic culture of mature seeds. Our new system should reduce the somaclonal variation accompanying prolonged culture of rice cells in the dedifferentiated state and facilitate the molecular breeding of rice.