Abstract:
Hairy root transformation has been widely adapted in plant laboratories to rapidly generate transgenic roots for biochemical and molecular analysis. We present hairy root transformations as a versatile and adaptable model system for a wide variety of undergraduate laboratory courses and research. This technique is easy, efficient, and fast making it an ideal tool for undergraduate teaching. Students in a biotechnology course successfully transformed soybean cotyledons with Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain K599 during laboratory sessions. The students introduced the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene into soybean and observed hairy roots regeneration.