Sakhanokho, H.F., P. Ozias-Akins, O.L. May and P.W. Chee. 2004.
Crop Sci. 44:2199-2205
The current standard strategy for cotton transformation uses Agrobacterium for gene transfer and regeneration via somatic embryogenesis, but was sucsessful only for a handful of cultivars. This study was undertaken with the prospect of expanding the number of elite Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) genotypes that can be regenerated via somatic embryogenesis. We tested 15 elite Upland cotton lines from Southeast germplasm: eight lines developed by the Georgia Agriculture Experiment Station and seven by the USDA-ARS Pee Dee cotton breeding program. These genotypes were tested on three embyro initiation-maturation media that were previously found to be capable of inducing somatic embryogenesis in diverse cotton species. Three Pee Dee lines, PD 97019, PD97021, and PD 97100 one Georgia line, GA 98003, responded to at least one of the three medium treatments. As expected, the regeneration efficiency of the Georgia and Pee Dee lines was relatively low as compared with the standard Coker 312 cultivar and a high degree of seed-to-seed variability was observed. However, the mean number of somatic embryos (SEs) per gram of tissues was high for the two best embryogenic lines, PD 97019 and GA 98033. Furthermore, the percentage of SEs that converted into plantlets for GA 98003 was comparable to Coker 312 for two of the three media tested.