Elsevier Scientific Publishers Ireland Ltd. TRANSFORMATION OF COWPEA VIGNA UNGUICULATA CELLS WITH AN ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE GENE USING A T i-PLASMID-DERIVED VECTOR

A chimaeric antibiotic resistance gene was transferred to cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), a member of the legume family. This transfer was established by inoculating cowpea leaf discs with an Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain harboring a Ti-plasmid-derived vector that contained two copies of a chimaeric kanamycin resistance gene. By culturing the leaf discs in selective medium kanamycin resistant callus tissue was obtained. Transformation of this callus tissue was confirmed by the detection of nopaline synthase activity and by Southern blot hybridiz-ation revealing the integration of the kanamycin resistance gene in the plant DNA. Key words: Vigna unguiculata; leaf disc transformation; Agrobacterium tumefaciens; kanamycin resistance; Southern blot hybridisatio