Scientia Horticulturae 160 (2013) 300–305

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Scientia Horticulturae
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Efficient in vitro shoot regeneration from mature apricot (Prunus

armeniaca L.) cotyledons
Hong Wang a , César Petri b , Lorenzo Burgos b , Nuria Alburquerque b,∗
a
Institute of Fruit and Floriculture Research, Gansu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anning, Lanzhou, 730070, China
b
Grupo de Biotecnología de Frutales, Departamento de Mejora de Plantas, CEBAS-CSIC, Apartado de Correos 164, 30.100, Murcia, Spain

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) is widely considered as a recalcitrant species for shoot regeneration and
Received 20 November 2012 genetic transformation. Previous reports indicated the possibility to obtain good regeneration from apri-
Received in revised form 22 May 2013 cot hypocotyl slices; however, we report here an efficient and novel procedure to obtain direct shoot
Accepted 12 June 2013
regeneration from the proximal zone of mature apricot cotyledons. Additionally, the system worked for
all genotypes tested, which makes this protocol a very interesting and useful tool. Regeneration percent-
Keywords:
ages were influenced by plant growth regulators and the initial dark incubation period, the former being
Adventitious shoot
critical to obtain high regeneration from stored apricot cotyledons. The highest regeneration percentages
Histological study
Organogenesis
were achieved with TDZ (4 or 8 ␮M) and 0.25 ␮M IBA in combination with two weeks dark incubation
Thidiazuron, Fruit trees period reaching up to 67.2%, 56.8%, 66.7%, 46.3% and 66.7% regeneration percentages for ‘Canino’, ‘Dorada’,
Recalcitrant species ‘Moniquí’, ‘Real Fino’ and ‘ansu Maxim’ (Prunus armeniaca L. var. ansu Maxim), respectively. Regeneration
pattern appeared as multiple shoots per cotyledon. Histological studies showed that epidermal and sub-
epidermal cells of the cotyledon were the cells from where direct organogenesis occurred. To the best of
our knowledge, this is the first report of direct in vitro regeneration from mature apricot cotyledons.
© 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction few documents where the regeneration of transgenic apricot

Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) is an important stone fruit species
cultivated worldwide with a large genetic diversity in cultivated
and wild genotypes. Improvement of apricot is focused, mainly, on
fruit quality and resistance. Nevertheless, apricot plant breeding
by traditional hybridization techniques is limited by its complex
genetic background and its long reproductive cycles. Plant biotech-
nology, via Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation,
can be used to introduce genes and transfer novel characteristics
into this species or for functional genomics studies. However, suc-
cessful genetic transformation is largely dependent on a reliable
and efficient regeneration system (Canli and Tian, 2009; Petri and
Burgos, 2005).
In apricot, adventitious shoot regeneration has been reported
from immature cotyledons (Goffreda et al., 1995; Laimer da Câmara
Machado et al., 1992; Lane and Cossio, 1986; Pieterse, 1989),
mature seed-derived hypocotyls (Wang et al., 2011) and leaves
from a few genotypes: ‘H.152’, ‘H.146’ (Escalettes and Dosba, 1993),
‘Bulida’, ‘Helena’, and ‘Canino’ cultivars (Burgos and Alburquerque,
2003; Pérez-Tornero et al., 2000). However, to date there are
plants have been achieved. These reports followed two different
approaches: one of them used immature cotyledons as the source
of explants (Laimer da Câmara Machado et al., 1992), the other
procedure, developed in our laboratory, used leaves of the culti-
var ‘Helena’, the only commercial apricot cultivar that has been
genetically modified to date (López-Noguera et al., 2009; Petri et al.,
2008a, 2008b). Nevertheless, the general applicability of the meth-
ods is not established since regeneration/transformation protocols
are highly genotype-dependent and there are not publications
reporting the successful reproduction of these techniques and the
generation of transgenic apricot plants in other laboratories (Wang
et al., 2011).
We report here an efficient and novel procedure to obtain
direct shoot regeneration from the proximal zone of mature apri-
cot cotyledons. Additionally, the system worked for all genotypes
tested, which makes this protocol a very interesting and useful tool.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of direct in vitro
regeneration from mature apricot cotyledons.
2. Materials and methods

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 968 396373; fax: +34 968 396213. 2.1. Plant material
E-mail address: nalbur@cebas.csic.es (N. Alburquerque).
URL: http://www.cebas.csic.es/dep english/breeding/biotechnology/biotech Cotyledons of mature seeds from four apricot cultivars (‘Canino’,
lineas en.html (N. Alburquerque). ‘Dorada’, ‘Real Fino’, ‘Moniquí’) and a rootstock [‘ansu Maxim’

0304-4238/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2013.06.013
 H. Wang et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 160 (2013) 300–305
Fig. 1. Regeneration of adventitious shoots from mature cotyledons of apricot
(Prunus armeniaca L.). (A) Apricot cotyledon, the dotted line indicates 3 cuts per-
formed to prepare explant. The red arrow indicates the area where regeneration
occurs. (B) Explants placed on the regeneration medium. (C) Adventitious buds
regeneration from cotyledon explants 3 weeks after explants were placed on the
shoot regeneration medium (SRM). (D) Proliferated and elongated shoots. (E) Rooted
shoots. (F) Acclimatized plant. Horizontal bars indicate 1 cm.
(P. armeniaca L. var. ‘ansu Maxim’)] were used as the explants
(Fig. 1A). After the endocarp was removed with a nutcracker, seeds
were immersed in a 1% sodium hypochlorite solution, contain-
ing approximately 20 ␮l Tween-20 per 100 ml solution, for 20 min
and rinsed four times with sterile distilled water in a laminar-flow
bench. Disinfected seeds were soaked in sterile water overnight at
4 ◦ C.
2.2. General regeneration strategy
The seedcoats were removed with a scalpel and the embryonic
axes were discarded. Cotyledon explants were cut by the dotted
line as indicated in Fig. 1A to discard the distal part since the
morphogenic capacity has been usually reported as significantly
superior from the proximal part of the cotyledon in other species
(Canli and Tian, 2009). Explants were then cut wounded three times
in the adaxial side and placed with the adaxial side in contact with
the shoot regeneration medium (SRM) (Fig. 1B). The SRM medium
consisted of full-strength Quoirin and Lepoivre (QL) macronutri-
ents, micronutrients and vitamins (Quoirin and Lepoivre, 1977), 2%
(w/v) sucrose, and 0.7% (w/v) purified agar. The growth regulators
301
used to induce shoot regeneration were 8 ␮M thidiazuron (TDZ)
and 0.25 ␮M 3-indolebutyric acid (IBA).
From 7 to 10 explants per Petri dish were positioned on SRM,
the dishes were sealed with Parafilm and incubated in the dark at
23 ± 1 ◦ C. After 2 weeks in the dark, explants were transferred to
the light with a 16/8 h photoperiod (55 ␮mol m−2 s−1 , cool-white
fluorescent lamp) at 23 ± 1 ◦ C. The explants were maintained in
the same Petri dish during the entire regeneration experiment.
This shoot regeneration protocol was followed, with the modifica-
tions indicated below, for all of the experimentation. Regeneration
percentages were calculated as number of regenerated explants
(Fig. 1C) per total number of explants for each treatment, which is
indicated below when describing the experiments.
Buds or clusters from regeneration experiments were isolated
and placed on a specific medium for apricot meristem growth
(Pérez-Tornero et al., 1999), consisting of QL medium supple-
mented with 3% sucrose, 6.65 ␮M 6-benzylaminopurine (BA), and
0.05 ␮M IBA. After 2–3 weeks, 1–2 cm long shoots were transferred
to a shoot-growing medium described previously for micropropa-
gation (Wang et al., 2011). Elongated shoots (Fig. 1D) were placed
in rooting medium (Petri et al., 2008a) when they reached 2–3 cm
in length (Fig. 1E). The pH of all media was adjusted with 1 N NaOH
to pH 5.8 and they were sterilized in an autoclaved at 121 ◦ C for
20 min.
The acclimatization and establishment of plantlets in a green-
house (Fig. 1F) were performed following standard procedures for
apricot (Pérez-Tornero and Burgos, 2000).
2.3. Effect of basal salts
To study the effect of different basal media, explants from
‘ansu Maxim’ were placed on SRM differing in their basal salts
and vitamins composition: full-strength MS (Murashige and Skoog,
1962), or full-strength woody plant medium (WPM) salts and vita-
mins (Lloyd and McCown, 1980), or full-strength QL (Quoirin and
Lepoivre, 1977). These media were supplemented with 8.0 ␮M TDZ
and 0.25 ␮M IBA. The total number of explants was 344.
2.4. Effect of growth regulators levels and genotype
This study was carried out with explants from ‘ansu Maxim’
placed on the SRM supplemented with 4, 8 and 16 ␮M TDZ in
combination with 0.5 or 0.25 ␮M IBA, using 333 explants in all
experiments. The effects of 4, 8 and 16 ␮M TDZ in combination with
0.25 ␮M IBA on the regeneration of ‘Canino’, ‘Moniquí’, ‘Dorada’ and
‘Real Fino’ were also studied. In these experiments the total number
of explants was 420.
2.5. Effect of dark incubation
The effect of length of dark incubation period on adventi-
tious regeneration was studied with ‘ansu Maxim’ cotyledons
placed on SRM. Four treatments were studied: 16-h photoperiod
(55 ␮mol m−2 s−1 ) at 23 ± 1 ◦ C, complete darkness for 1, 2, or 3
weeks (at 23 ± 1 ◦ C), before transferring to the 16-h photoperiod,
using 109 explants in this experiment. The effect of 2 weeks dark
incubation was also compared with the 16-h photoperiod treat-
ment using cotyledons from ‘Canino’, ‘Dorada’ and ‘Real Fino’. The
total number of explants used in this experiment was 138.
2.6. Histological study
Histological analyses of the organogenesis process were
realized at different stages (0, 1 and 2 weeks from the begin-
ning of the regeneration experiments). Cotyledons were fixed
in formaldehyde acetic acid (F.A.A.: 90% ethanol at 70%, 5%
302 H. Wang et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 160 (2013) 300–305

formaldehyde at 40%, 5% glacial acetic acid) during 48 h at 80

4 ◦ C. The explants were dehydrated using a tertiarybutyl alco- 0.25 µM IBA
hol series (TBA) and then embedded in Paraplast (Paraplast 70 0.5 µM IBA
PlusTM , Sherwood Medical Co., St. Louis, Mo, USA). Serial sections
60
of 10 ␮m were mounted on slides impregnated with an adhe-

Regeneration (%)
sive of gelatin, glycerine and 3% formaldehyde. Samples were
50
stained with toluidine blue (0.03%) and observed with a light
microscope. 40

2.7. Experimental design and data analysis 30

Experiments were performed in a completely randomized 20

design and were repeated, at least twice. Regeneration was
evaluated weekly, starting 2 weeks after the beginning of the 10
experiment and until adventitious buds regeneration stopped
0
appearing for 2 consecutive weeks (approximately 6–7 weeks
4 6 8 10 12 14 16
from the beginning of the experiment). Differences among regen-
eration percentage values were analyzed by using maximum TDZ concentracion (µM)
likelihood ANOVA from CATMOD module in SAS (SAS Institute,
Fig. 2. Effect of TDZ and IBA concentration on adventitious bud regeneration from
1988).
mature cotyledons of ‘ansu Maxim’ apricot. Vertical bars indicate standard errors.

3. Results
80
3.1. Shoot regeneration following general regeneration strategy a a 4 TDZ a
8 TDZ
70
ab 16 TDZ
Explants from all five cultivars tested showed a similar ini- a ab a
a
tial response on the SRM. They reached two-fold of their initial 60 a
size after 2-weeks in dark-incubation, and protuberances were b
Regeneration (%)

visible to the naked eye on the proximal adaxial surface of the 50 b

cotyledon. When explants were transferred to a 16/8 h photope-
40
riod, they turned green, but did not expand as much as they did b b
in the dark. The first buds were observed 2–3 weeks after the
30 b
culture started. No intermediate callus formation was observed c
previously to regeneration and adventitious shoots appeared more 20
frequently on the proximal adaxial cotyledon surface, (Fig. 1A, C).
Regeneration usually appeared as clusters (Fig. 1C) from where 10
multiple shoots (an average of 15 per explant) could be iso-
lated (Fig. 1D). Once shoots elongated (Fig. 1D), rooting (Fig. 1E) 0
and acclimatization (Fig. 1F) steps were accomplished effectively 'Canino' 'Dorada' 'Moniquí' 'Real Fino' 'ansu Maxim'
following our standard procedures (Pérez-Tornero and Burgos,
Fig. 3. Effect of TDZ concentration on adventitious bud regeneration from mature
2000).
cotyledons of different apricot cultivars. Vertical bars indicate standard errors.
Different letters represent differences between cultivars within each TDZ concen-
3.2. Effect of basal medium tration.

Shoot regeneration was observed in explants of ‘ansu Maxim’

cultured on all three basal media tested. The percentages were
35.7 ± 5.7 with MS, 45.2% ± 6.3 with WPM and 46.7% ± 5 with QL.
Although the highest percentage of shoot formation was obtained
when QL was used as basal medium, no significant differences were
detected among the three basal media. However, regenerated buds
in medium QL were more vigorous and hyperhydricity was not
observed.
3.3. Effect of growth regulators levels and genotype on shoot
induction
In order to test the effect of TDZ and IBA on shoot induction, three
concentrations of TDZ in combination with two concentrations of
IBA were tested with ‘ansu Maxim’ cotyledons (Fig. 2). TDZ and
IBA concentrations influenced significantly (p < 0.05 and p < 0.001
respectively) shoot organogenesis. The best results were obtained
when 8 ␮M TDZ in combination with 0.25 ␮M IBA were added to
the medium (Fig. 2).
The regeneration percentages of the five genotypes were evalu-
ated by placing cotyledons explants in QL medium with the addition
of 0.25 ␮M IBA and combined with three TDZ concentrations: 4,
8 or 16 ␮M (Fig. 3). The interaction between cultivars and TDZ
concentrations was very significant (p < 0.001), which is due to
different regeneration percentages observed for each cultivar at dif-
ferent TDZ concentration. Cultivars differed significantly (p < 0.001)
in their regeneration percentages. In average, regeneration from
‘Moniquí’ and ‘Real Fino’ cotyledons was lower than that of ‘Dorada’,
‘Canino’ and ‘ansu Maxim’ explants (Fig. 3). The highest regenera-
tion rate was recorded for ‘Canino’, reaching up to 67.2% when 4 ␮M
TDZ and 0.25 ␮M IBA were utilized. The effect of TDZ concentration
on regeneration was genotype-dependent (Fig. 3). ‘Real Fino’ and
‘ansu Maxim’ presented an optimum regeneration when 8 ␮M TDZ
was added to the medium. Regeneration from ‘Dorada’ and ‘Canino’
decreased when TDZ was increased, being this effect stronger in
the last one. ‘Moniqui’ yielded the minimum regeneration percent-
age at 8 ␮M TDZ. Within each TDZ concentration, ‘Canino’, ‘Dorada’
and ‘Moniqui’ had higher regeneration percentages at 4 ␮M TDZ
than ‘Real Fino’ or ‘ansu Maxim’. ‘Moniquí’ had significantly lowest
regeneration rates at 8 ␮M TDZ than the rest of cultivars whereas
‘Canino’ and ‘Real Fino’ cotyledons regenerated significantly worse
than the other cultivars at 16 ␮M TDZ.
 H. Wang et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 160 (2013) 300–305
100
'ansu Maxim'
'Canino'
80 'Dorada'
Regeneration rate (%)
'Real Fino'
60
40
20
0
0 1 2 3
Dark incubation period (weeks)
Fig. 4. Effect of the dark incubation time on the regeneration percentages from
mature cotyledon of apricot cultivars. Cotyledons of ‘ansu Maxim’ apricot were incu-
bated in dark for 0, 1, 2 or 3 weeks whereas cotyledons from ‘Canino’, ‘Dorada’ and
‘Real Fino’ were incubated only 0 or 2 weeks. Vertical bars indicate standard errors.
Fig. 5. Regeneration from cotyledons explants of ‘ansu Maxim’ apricot’ incubated
for 0, 1, 2 or 3 weeks in darkness. Photos were taken 4 weeks after the beginning of
the experiment. Bar indicates 1 cm.
3.4. Effect of dark incubation treatments
The regeneration from cotyledon explants of ‘ansu Maxim’ was
significantly affected by the length of the dark incubation period
(Fig. 4). Regeneration rates were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in
all three treatments where a dark incubation period was applied
compared to the regeneration when explants were exposed to a
photoperiod.
There were not significant differences on regeneration per-
centages of ‘ansu Maxim’ among the different dark incubation
treatments (1, 2 or 3 weeks). However, a slight increase in the num-
ber of regenerated buds per regenerating explant was observed, as
well as more hyperhydricity symptoms in the regenerated adven-
titious buds, as the incubation period in darkness increased (Fig. 5).
Cotyledons from three other apricot cultivars were exposed to
two weeks dark incubation treatment which increased regenera-
tion of ‘Canino’ and ‘Dorada’ but not in ‘Real Fino’ as compared to
the treatment without dark incubation (Fig. 4).
3.5. Histological studies
Histological analyses and cytological observations were realized
at different stages (at 0, 1 and 2 weeks cultured in darkness) of the
in vitro culture on ‘ansu Maxim’ cotyledon explants. Observations
showed that epidermal and sub-epidermal cells were the tissues
where organogenesis was happening (Fig. 6A, B). At the beginning
303
of culture, epidermis was thin and compact on top of cotyledon
explant palisade parenchyma cells. No pre-formed meristems were
observed at this stage (Fig. 6A). After 7 days of culture, meristematic
cells were observed on the adaxial surface (Fig. 6B) and the meri-
stematic zone become wider and deeper, with an intense region of
meristematic activity beneath this. Meristematic structures were
formed between 7 and 14 days after transfer into the regeneration
medium when adventitious buds were observed (Fig. 6C).
4. Discussion
In vitro adventitious shoot regeneration was obtained from
stored mature cotyledons of Prunus armeniaca L. To our knowledge
this is the first report on direct organogenesis from apricot mature
cotyledons.
The development of a breeding program associated with the
biotechnological tools or the functional characterization of can-
didate genes involved in agricultural traits depend upon the
development of an efficient in vitro plant regeneration and trans-
formation system (Chovelon et al., 2011).
Apricot is widely considered as a recalcitrant species for genetic
transformation (Petri and Burgos, 2005). In the recent years, our
research group has established three reliable regeneration proce-
dures for apricot (Burgos and Alburquerque, 2003; Pérez-Tornero
et al., 2000; Wang et al., 2011) including this one using mature
cotyledon as explants. In a previous report we have described
an efficient regeneration system, obtaining 31.7–46.9% regener-
ation percentage using hypocotyl slices from mature seeds of
three apricot varieties ‘Canino’, ‘Dorada’ and ‘Moniquí’. The high
GUS expression detected after Agrobacterium-mediated transfor-
mation of hypocotyl section explants and the regeneration of some
transgenic chimerical buds suggested that seed-derived material
may improve the transformation efficiency (Wang et al., 2011).
In this study, we have observed higher regeneration percentages
of mature cotyledons compared to hypocotyls and leaves. Addi-
tionally, the regenerated buds were very vigorous. Therefore, we
believe that bud regeneration from mature cotyledon could be
another regeneration system for potential genetic transformation
applications in apricot.
Most of the transformation protocols developed in Prunus
species used seed-derived material as explants. It is not possible
to improve a known variety by transforming seed-derived tissues.
However, seed material could be very useful to accomplish several
objectives in fundamental research areas such as gene silencing,
gene expression studies, resistance assessments to insects, diseases
and herbicides, and promoter gene assessments. Also, transforma-
tion of non-clonal material could be used to incorporate a new trait
(such as disease resistance genes) in the gene pool of the species,
making the trait available for breeders.
A previous paper reported 30% regeneration percentage from
immature cotyledons of an apricot cultivar ‘Kecskemeter’ (Laimer
da Câmara Machado et al., 1992). The system described in this
study has the advantage that mature seeds are easily stored in the
refrigerator and ready all year-round (Mante et al., 1991).
Although regeneration rate of ‘ansu Maxim’ cotyledons was not
affected significantly by the basal salts, regenerated buds on QL
basal salts were healthier than those on MS or WPM. QL medium
was especially developed for Prunus species (Quoirin and Lepoivre,
1977). In agreement with our results, QL basal salts were also suc-
cessfully used in promoting shoot regeneration from apricot leaves
(Pérez-Tornero et al., 2000; Petri et al., 2005) and different explants
of other Prunus species (Matt and Jehle, 2005; Song and Sink, 2005).
A feature of this medium is its low nitrogen level and low salt
content, which has been related to a stimulatory effect on apple
regeneration (Yepes and Aldwinckle, 1994).
304 H. Wang et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 160 (2013) 300–305
Fig. 6. Histological and morphological structures of apricot mature cotyledon explants cultivated on regeneration medium, adaxial surface upwards. (A) Before culture the
epidermis is shown by arrow. (B) Development of the meristematic zone (Mz) from epidermis at 1 weeks of culture, arrows mark meristematic bulges. (C) Shoots development
after 2 weeks of culture. Arrows indicate adventitious shoot apical meristems among several leaf primordia (P) on the adaxial surface of the cotyledon. Horizontal bars indicate
200 ␮m.
In this study, a dark period was critical to induce shoot regen-
eration. Our results agree with previous observations where an
initial dark incubation period significantly increased the regen-
eration from apricot leaves (Pérez-Tornero et al., 2000) and the
regeneration from leaves or cotyledons of other Prunus species
(Ainsley et al., 2001; Canli and Tian, 2008, 2009; Espinosa et al.,
2006). However, when hypocotyl sections were used as explants for
shoot regeneration in apricot (Wang et al., 2011), European plum
(P. domestica) (Gonzalez-Padilla et al., 2003; Petri et al., 2008c) or
Japanese plum (P. salicina) (Tian et al., 2007b; Urtubia et al., 2008),
dark incubation was not necessary. The similar ontogenetic ori-
gin of leaves and cotyledons may explain the same dark period
requirements.
In this study, regeneration percentages varied from 67.2% ± 5.9
to 17.7 ± 5.3 (Fig. 3) depending on the genotype and TDZ concentra-
tion. Similarly, the genotype effect in Prunus has been also observed
when other type of explants has been used, such as hypocotyls
(Tian et al., 2007a, 2007b; Wang et al., 2011) or leaves (Burgos
and Alburquerque, 2003; Gentile et al., 2002; Pérez-Tornero et al.,
2000). Although the effect of the genotype is widely recognized,
this could be mitigated when a very-effective procedure is used.
For instance, the procedure developed for European plum (Petri
et al., 2008c) has been tested in our laboratory and it worked well
for all the genotypes tested. Additionally, the procedure is being
used successfully in different laboratories.
A histological study of direct shoot regeneration in apricot has
not been reported previously. In this study, we examined a differ-
ent regeneration processes which can aid in a better understanding
of the regeneration process. Cytological observations showed that
epidermal and sub-epidermal cells are the source of organogen-
esis in apricot cotyledon explants in vitro (Fig. 6). Regeneration of
adventitious shoot meristems directly from explants in vitro is often
initiated by cell divisions beginning in the epidermal or subepi-
dermal layers (Fig. 6B). This regeneration pathway is widespread,
occurring in monocotyledons (Slabbert et al., 1995) and dicotyle-
dons (Gaba et al., 1999; Mendoza et al., 1993; Sharma and Bhojwani,
1990).
The adventitious regeneration as a cluster pattern may increase
the probability of regeneration and transformation events hap-
pening in the same plant cell, especially if transformation occurs
massively in the peripheral zone (Fig. 6C) where shoot regeneration
is generally obtained.
5. Conclusions
A simple, reliable and efficient regeneration system for apricot
from mature seed cotyledons on QL medium containing TDZ and
IBA is presented. Regeneration was achieved for all five cultivars
tested at a relatively high frequency for a woody plant species.
This study proves that cotyledons are suitable explants for shoot
regeneration in P. armeniaca L. and with higher regeneration per-
centages compared to mature hypocotyls (Wang et al., 2011) and
leaves (Burgos and Alburquerque, 2003; Pérez-Tornero et al., 2000).
Direct regeneration from explant tissue surface is likely to be good
for genetic transformation via Agrobacterium infection or particle
gun bombardment. The system might be transferable, with more
or less efficiency, to other apricot cultivars.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Dr. José Egea for providing ‘Dorada’,
‘Real Fino’ and ‘Moniquí’ fruits and Frutales Mediterráneo SAT for
providing ‘Canino’ seeds. Hong Wang and César Petri acknowl-
edge the financial support of a JAE fellowship and JAE postdoctoral
contract, respectively. This research was supported by the CICYT
AGL2010-20270 project, co-financed by FEDER funds. The authors
have no conflict of interest to declare.
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