Efficient Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation and regeneration of garlic (Allium sativum) immature leaf tissue.

Transgenic garlic (Allium sativum) plants have been recovered directly from immature leaf material by selective culture following Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. This method involved the use of a binary vector containing the mgfp-ER reporter gene and hpt selectable marker, and followed a similar protocol developed previously for the transformation of immature onion embryos. The choice of tissue and post-transformation selection procedure resulted in a large increase in recovery of transgenic plants compared with previously confirmed allium transformation protocols. The presence of transgenes in the genome of the plants was confirmed using Southern analysis. This improvement in frequency and the use of clonal commercial "Printanor" germplasm now makes possible the integration of useful agronomic and quality traits into this crop.