Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of various barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) genotypes

Stable genetic transformation represents the gold standard approach to the functional analysis of plant genes. This is particularly relevant in barley, an important crop species as well as an experimental model widely employed in applied molecular, genetic and cell biological research and biotechnology. Here, the establishment of a protocol for Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer to immature embryos is presented which enables a highly efficient generation of stable transgenic barley. Advancements were achieved through comparative experiments on the influence of various explant treatments and co-culture conditions. The analysis of representative numbers of transgenic lines revealed that the obtained T-DNA copy numbers are typically low, the generative transmission of the recombinant DNA is according to the Mendelian rules and the vast majority of the primary transgenics produce progeny that expresses the transgenes integrated.