Introduction of foreign genes into potato cultivars Bintje and Désirée using an Agrobacterium tumefaciens binary vector.

Tuber discs of Solanum tuberosum cv Bintje and Désirée were cocultivated with an Agrobacterium tumefaciens binary vector, carrying both the neomycine phosphotransferase and the E. coli β-glucuronidase gene fused to resp. the nopaline synthase and Cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promotor.Inoculated tuber discs produce transgenic shoots in selective media containing kanamycin. The transgenic plants are phenotypically normal and contain the euploid number of chromosomes. Both the neomycin phosphotransferase as well as the β-glucuronidase gene are expressed conferring resp. kanamycin resistance and β-glucuronidase activity to the plants.