Transient GUS and GFP Expression in Spanish Red Cedar (Cedrela odorata L.) Somatic Embryos. Optimization of Bombardment Conditions and Evaluation of Selective Agent Lethal Dose

Cedrela odorata is a tropical tree widely appreciated for its wood. Commercial plantations are frequently hampered by the attack of the meliacea borer, Hypsipyla grandella, and the lack of resistant varieties. C. odorata traditional breeding would consume very long periods of time, thus direct transfer of entomotoxic coding genes to generate resistant varieties is a promising alternative. There are two prerequisites for gene manipulation of this species: 1) to set the conditions for transgene delivery and 2) to have a way to select regenerating transformed plants. In this paper, we report the optimal biolistics conditions for transient expression of uidA and gfp reporter genes in C. odorata somatic embryos and the selective doses for kanamycin, spectinomycin, phosphinotrycin and hygromycin to screen transformed cells.