Efficient Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation and regeneration of garlic (Allium sativum) immature leaf tissue.

Transgenic garlic (Allium sativum) plants have been recovered directly from immature leaf material by selective culture following Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. This method involved the use of a binary vector containing the mgfp-ER reporter gene and hpt selectable marker, and followed a similar protocol developed previously for the transformation of immature onion embryos. The choice of tissue and post-transformation selection procedure resulted in a large increase in recovery of transgenic plants compared with previously confirmed allium transformation protocols.