Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of Artemisia annua L. and regeneration of transgenic plants.

A transformation system was developed for Artemisia annua L. plants. Leaf explants from in vitro grown plants developed callus and shoots on medium with 0.05 mg/L naphthaleneacetic acid and 0.5 mg/L N(6)-benzyladenine after transformation with the C58C1 Rif(R) (pGV2260) (pTJK136) Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain. A concentration of 20 mg/L kanamycin was added in order to select transformed tissue. Kanamycin resistant shoots were rooted on naphthaleneacetic acid 0.1 mg/L. Polymerase chain reactions and DNA sequencing of the amplification products revealed that 75% of the regenerants contained the foreign genes. 94% of the transgenic plants showed a β-glucuronidase-positive response.