2017 ASHS Annual Conference

In vitro propagation and plant regeneration are essential for many advanced genomic techniques such as the generation of stable transgenic plant lines as well as for propagation of lines that are sterile or that have desirable traits. Although many nightshade species have well-established traditional propagation protocols, in vitro propagation methods have only been developed for a few select species. We have adapted a tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) in vitro tissue culture and transformation protocol developed at the Boyce Thompson Institute for use in a diverse group of nightshade species. These species include wild tomato (Solanum pimpinellifolium), desert tobacco (Nicotiana obtusifolia), synthetic tobacco (N. tabacum) hybrids, night-blooming jasmine (Cestrum nocturnum), jimson weed (Datura stramonium), and Schizanthus grahamii. Desert tobacco is a diploid congener of N. tabacum more amenable to greenhouse growth conditions, because it flowers rapidly and copiously and can be maintained at a relatively small size. Additionally, tobacco, night-blooming jasmine, jimson weed, and Schizanthus are ornamentally important species with useful phylogenic placement. Of these species, we have created transgenic lines of both desert tobacco and wild tomato. The results of these optimization experiments represent an important first step toward generation of stable knock out lines for future genetic studies, the clonal preservation of important varieties, and the propagations of sterile hybrid lines.