Methods and compositions for obtaining marker-free transgenic plants

摘要

The invention provides methods and compositions for identifying transgenic seed that contain a transgene of interest, but lack a marker gene. Use of an identification sequence that results in a detectable phenotype increases the efficiency of screening for seed and plants in which transgene sequences not linked to a gene of interest have segregated from the sequence encoding a gene of interest.

主权项

1. A method of preparing marker-free seeds from a transgenic plant comprising the steps of:
a) obtaining seeds from a transgenic plant, the plant comprising a first DNA segment comprising a nucleic acid of interest and a second DNA segment comprising a marker gene physically linked to a DNA cassette that is operably linked to a promoter functional in said seed, wherein the DNA cassette confers a detectable phenotype; b) screening the seeds for the absence of the detectable phenotype; and c) selecting at least a first seed that lacks the detectable phenotype to obtain a seed free of the marker gene;wherein the DNA cassette comprises a DNA sequence encoding an antisense or sense RNA that silences an endogenous gene to result in the detectable phenotype.