ACC deaminase increases the Agrobacterium tumefaciens‐mediated transformation frequency of commercial canola cultivars

RESEARCH LETTER

ACC deaminase increases the Agrobacterium tumefaciens -mediated transformation frequency of commercial canola cultivars Youai Hao, Trevor C. Charles & Bernard R. Glick Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada

Correspondence: Bernard R. Glick, Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, Canada N2L 3G1. Tel.: 11 519 888 4567, ext. 32058; fax: 11 519 746 0614; e-mail: [email protected] Received 1 December 2009; revised 25 January 2010; accepted 28 March 2010. Final version published online 22 April 2010. DOI:10.1111/j.1574-6968.2010.01977.x

Abstract The plant hormone ethylene has been reported to inhibit the Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation efficiency of many plants. In this study, an acdS gene that encodes 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase, an enzyme that breaks down ACC, the direct precursor of ethylene biosynthesis in all higher plants, was introduced into A. tumefaciens GV3101