Timentin as an alternative antibiotic for suppression of Agrobacterium tumefaciens in genetic transformation.

The effects of timentin on shoot regeneration of tobacco (Nicotiana tabaccum) and Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila L.) and its use for the suppression of Agrobacterium tumefaciens in Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation were determined. Timentin is a mixture of ticarcillin and clavulanic acid, and at concentrations of 200-500 mg/l with ratios of ticarcillin:clavulanic acid of 50:1 and 100:1, it had little effect on shoot regeneration of tobacco or Siberian elm. Timentin was as effective in suppressing A. tumefaciens as carbenicillin and cefatoxime at concentrations commonly used in transformation. The disarmed A. tumefaciens strain LBA4404 in infected tobacco leaf tissues was visually undetectable after three subcultures on medium with 500 mg/l of timentin and 250 mg/l carbenicillin. Timentin was stable in solid agar medium and remained effective for at least 70 days, but was unstable when stored as a mixed stock solution or as separate ticarcillin and clavulanic acid stock solutions at -20°C or -80°C freezer for 4 weeks. Timentin may be an alternative antibiotic for the effective suppression of A. tumefaciens in genetic transformation.