2018 ASHS Annual Conference

Raspberries (Rubus spp.) are a group of high-value woody species and their fruits are available in a variety of forms in grocery products. Due to the complicated genetic background and perennial nature, improvement of raspberry species, such as yield and fruit quality using conventional breeding is time-consuming. Plant biotechnology including genetic transformation can not only develop novel breeding materials, but also help speed up the breeding process. In this research, one purple raspberry (R. occidentalis × R. idaeus) ‘Amethyst’ and two red raspberry cultivars (R. idaeus) ‘Polana’ and ‘Joan J’ were used to develop an efficient genetic transformation system for raspberry species. Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain EHA105 harboring pBI121 or pCAMBIA S1300 with the selection gene nptII or hpt and the target gene PtFIT in response to iron deficiency in Populus. Young in vitro leaves and petioles (7-day-old) were infected by submerging in the bacterial solution for 10 min and then co-cultivated for 3-5 days. Transgenic cells were recovered and shoots were regenerated in the media with various concentrations of kanamycin or hygromycin. Transformation was confirmed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Expression of the PtFIT gene is being determined using real-time quantitative PCR. The genetic transformation system can be used for gene functional analysis and germplasm enhancement in raspberry or related species.