Direct transformation of mandarin protoplasts

• Grant number: 13/12825-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: September 16, 2013
• End date: July 15, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: Beatriz Madalena Januzzi Mendes
• Grantee: Leonardo Soriano
• Supervisor: Jude W. Grosser
• Host Institution: Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Florida, Gainesville (UF), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 11/01545-5 - In vitro organogenesis and genetic transformation of mandarin varieties, BP.DR

Abstract

Citrus has extensive genetic diversity and the group of mandarins corresponds the largest. In Brazil, the citrus industry is an important segment in the socio-economic structure, characterized as an important agro-industrial activity. The traditional breeding has presented limitations to obtaining new varieties of rootstock and scion, due to the discontinuity in programs established and the factors related to the complexity of the genre. In an attempt to overcome these barriers, the genetic transformation is notable for allowing the introduction of exogenous genes, which, in addition to reducing the time to obtain material genetically improved, may confer disease resistance in varieties of agronomic interest. Thus, the objective of this project at Citrus Research and Education Center / UF is learning the technique of genetic transformation by direct introduction of plasmidial DNA mediated by polyethylene glycol (PEG) and obtaining transgenic plants of mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) using as explant source, protoplasts from embryogenic callus. Additionally, will perform the following activities: genetic transformation experiments of cell suspensions of mandarins and sweet oranges, mediated by A. tumefaciens using new antimicrobial peptides homologous of citrus, using bioinformatic tools to identify and characterize new promoters with a potential for expression and conventional cloning of genes to obtain new vectors. (AU)