Cultivar variability in the Agrobacterium-rice cell interaction and plant regeneration

Thirteen cultivars of rice (Oryza sativa) were tested for plant regeneration from calli initiated from the scutella of mature seeds by water stress treatment using a high concentration of agarose, and examined for their response to Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404, carrying a plasmid pTOK233, harboring genes for kanamycin resistance (nptII), hygromycin resistance (hpt) and β-glucuronidase (gus). Plant regeneration frequency was considerably increased in most of the cultivars when the calli were treated with water stress, as compared with untreated controls. In particular, the cultivars Dongjinbyeo, IR43, Nagdongbyeo and Sinseonchalbyeo showed an increased frequency of shoot regeneration. Expression of GUS was detected in all of the co-cultivated cultivars. Based on GUS expression at 3 days after co-cultivation with A. tumefaciens, three rice cultivars (Dongjinbyeo, Hwayoungbyeo and Nagdongbyeo) were judged highly susceptible to A. tumefaciens, while Milyang 23, Nonganbyeo and Samgangbyeo cultivars were weakly susceptible. Plantlets were readily regenerated when the hygromycin-resistant calli were transferred to a regeneration medium containing hygromycin. Intense blue staining was observed in GUS assays of leaf segments, roots and flower organs from regenerated plants. Stable integration and expression of the introduced hpt and gus genes were confirmed by Southern blot analysis of the transformants. Therefore, Dongjinbyeo and Nagdongbyeo cultivars proved to be both highly susceptible to A. tumefaciens and highly responsive to plant regeneration.