STUDIES ON AGROBACTERIUM-MEDIATED GENETIC TRANSFORMATION OF RICE USING DREB2A GENE

Abstract

This investigation was conducted during the period from 2017 to 2021 at the Department of Plant Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Institute, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt. This work concentrated on developing a simple, fast, and efficient protocol for regeneration of two Egyptian rice cultivars (Sakha104 and Giza178) and standardizing several parameters for the maximum gene transfer rate of these two cultivars using Agrobacterium tumefaciens. In addition, DREB2A gene was used for transforming rice explants in an attempt to produce transgenic rice plants tolerant to abiotic stress conditions.The objectives of the study include: 1. Development of an efficient regeneration system for some Egyptian rice cultivars. 2. Optimization of an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation protocol 3. Detection of putative transgenics. 4. Evaluation of potential tolerance to some abiotic stresses (heat, salinity and drought). The results of this investigation could be summarized as follows:

1. Influence of amino acids on callus induction Mature seeds of Giza 178 and Sakha104 cultivars were cultured on a callus induction medium supplemented with different concentrations of amino acids (tryptophan, glutamine, and casein hydrolysate) separately. All casein hydrolysate treatments showed a positive response with various degrees compared with control on the two tested cultivars. The best concentration of casein hydrolysate was