Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Vitis Cv. Monastrell suspension-cultured cells: Determination of critical parameters.

Although some works have explored the transformation of differentiated, embryogenic suspension-cultured cells (SCC) to produce transgenic grapevine plants, to our knowledge this is one of the first reports on the efficient transformation of dedifferentiated Vitis vinifera cv Monastrell SCC. This protocol has been developed using the sonication-assisted Agrobacterium-mediated transformation (SAAT) method. A construct harboring the selectable nptII and the eyfp/IV2 marker genes was used in the study and transformation efficiencies reached over 50 independent transformed SCC per gram of infected cells.