Generation of transgenic barley lines producing human lactoferrin using mutant alpha-tubulin gene as the selective marker

The biolistic transformation method was used for genetic improvement of three commercial cultivars of barley (Oksamytoviy, Vodogray, and Hetman). The plasmid pHLFTuBA containing target gene hLF encoding human lactoferrin under the control of the rice glutein B-1 promoter GluB-1 was used for transformation. The gene encoding mutant alfa-tubulin conferring resistance to trifluralin (dinitroaniline herbicide) was used as the selective marker. The screening of different trifluralin concentrations ranging from 0.1–30 μM was used for determination of selective concentration of the agent. Two transgenic barley lines of cultivars Oksamytoviy and Hetman’s callus line were selected after 2–3 months of cultivation on 10 μM of trifluralin. To confirm stable integration of the transformed gene, the PCR analysis of leafs from regenerated plant after their adaptation on the ground was carried out. The 734 bp fragment of the target gene was amplified from both regenerated plants.