Shoot Regeneration, in Vitro Performances of Regenerated Shoots and Transient Expression in Morphogenic Explants in Prunus avium cultivar 'Burlat C1'

Biotechnology may represent alternative ways to genetic improvement of sweet cherry exploiting somaclonal variation and genetic transformation. In this paper a method to induce efficient shoot regeneration from somatic explants of ‘Burlat C1’ is reported: 52.0 % caulogenesis was obtained from basal callus formed after culturing shoot apical portions in the dark. Considering the significant onset of adventitious shoots showing variegated leaves their in vitro performances have been evaluated as compared to green (normal) shoots. The influence of cefotaxime, cefotaxime plus vancomycin and timentin was assessed both for decontamination and regeneration efficiency prior transforming morphogenic masses with A. tumefaciens (C58C1 pDN3514), carrying the rolABC genes from A. rhizogenes, p35GUS-intron visible marker and nptII antibiotic resistance gene. GUS test indicated the presence of transient expression in shoot primordia nevertheless it was not possible to recover transgenic shoots probably due to the formation of chimeric meristems