Preventing Agrobacterium Overgrowth in Plant Transformation

Transgenic Research released a review article authored by Monoj Sutradhar and Nirmal Mandal containing the reasons and preventive methods for the overgrowth of Agrobacterium tumefaciens during plant transformation.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated plant transformation has been extensively used to investigate gene function and in developing genetically modified plants. However, the transformation process may entail some issues, such as the overgrowth of Agrobacterium that occasionally happens after the co-cultivation phase of the explant. When this happens, it is almost impossible to remedy the situation. To prevent this from happening, the authors enumerated and discussed several factors that must be controlled. The factors include explant nature, A. tumefaciens strain, T-DNA vector, co-cultivation (time and condition), acetosyringone, washing medium, antibiotics (type, concentration, combination, incubation period).

By understanding the said factors, researchers can devise practical strategies that can help prevent the overgrowth of Agrobacterium and achieve genetic transformation.

Read the review article in Transgenic Research.