GENETIC TRANSFORMATION OF JAPANESE PERSIMMON WITH FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) GENE AND TERMINAL FLOWER 1 (TFL1) HOMOLOGUES GENE

In this study, we transformed the Japanese persimmon (Diospyros kaki, Thunb. ‘Jiro’) with Arabidopsis FT gene (AtFT) and PmTFL1 gene, a Prunus mume ortholog of Arabidopsis TFL1 gene. 10 lines of transgenic PmTFL1 shoot and 2 lines of transgenic AtFT shoot were obtained. T-DNA integrations into the Japanese persimmon genome were confirmed by PCR and DNA blot analysis. DNA blot analysis of the PmTFL1 transgenic shoots indicated that the transformed plants carried 1-2 copies of foreign target gene. The expression of AtFT and PmTFL1 gene in the transgenic ‘Jiro’ shoots were detected by RT-PCR. The PmTFL1 transgenic in vitro shoots did not show a different appearance compared with non transformed ‘Jiro’ shoots, however, the AtFT transgenic shoots showed a ‘bushy’ phenotype with the short internodes. Although the AtFT transgenic shoots were sub-cultured in vitro over 2 years, early flowering was not observed.