Abstract
The Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation for blueberries remains less efficient than is desirable. A new leaf callus regeneration and genetic transformation system was investigated in blueberries in this study. The leaf explants of cv. 'Legacy' and 'Northland' were used to establish the stable callus induction system when placed on the woody plant medium (WPM) supplemented with 1.0 mg·L(-1) 2, 4-D, 0.4 mg·L(-1) 6-BA for 30 d; then, the callus was sub-cultured in the proliferation medium supplemented with 1.5 mg·L(-1) 2, 4-D, 0.4 mg·L(-1) 6-BA in the darkness at 25 °C every 30 days. The co-cultivation of callus with A. tumefaciens was operated on WPM plus 100 μM acetosyringone for 4 days; then, the transferred callus was grown in WPM supplemented with 1.5 mg·L(-1) 2,4-D, 0.4 mg·L(-1) 6-BA, 50 mg·L(-1) hygromycin, and 200 mg·L(-1) cefotaxime. The VcCHS transgenic blueberry callus with both GFP signal and Hyg resistance was obtained from the transformed callus of cv. 'Northland'. The rate of GFP signal detected in the transformed callus was as high as 49.02%, which was consistent with the PCR assay. Collectively, this study provides a highly efficient genetic transformation system in blueberry callus and a powerful approach for the molecular breeding of blueberries.