BackgroundBituminaria bituminosa is a perennial legume species from the Canary Islands and Mediterranean region that has potential as a drought-tolerant pasture species and as a source of pharmaceutical compounds. Three botanical varieties have previously been identified in this species: albomarginata, bituminosa and crassiuscula. B. bituminosa can be considered a genomic 'orphan' species with very few genomic resources available. New DNA sequencing technologies provide an opportunity to develop high quality molecular markers for such orphan species.Results432,306 mRNA molecules were sampled from a leaf transcriptome of a single B. bituminosa plant using Roche 454 pyrosequencing, resulting in an average read length of 345 bp (149.1 Mbp in total). Sequences were assembled into 3,838 isotigs/contigs representing putatively unique gene transcripts. Gene ontology descriptors were identified for 3,419 sequences. Raw sequence reads containing simple sequence repeat (SSR) motifs were identified, and 240 primer pairs flanking these motifs were designed. Of 87 primer pairs developed this way, 75 (86.2%) successfully amplified primarily single fragments by PCR. Fragment analysis using 20 primer pairs in 79 accessions of B. bituminosa detected 130 alleles at 21 SSR loci. Genetic diversity analyses confirmed that variation at these SSR loci accurately reflected known taxonomic relationships in original collections of B. bituminosa and provided additional evidence that a division of the botanical variety bituminosa into two according to geographical origin (Mediterranean region and Canary Islands) may be appropriate. Evidence of cross-pollination was also found between botanical varieties within a B. bituminosa breeding programme.ConclusionsB. bituminosa can no longer be considered a genomic orphan species, having now a large (albeit incomplete) repertoire of expressed gene sequences that can serve as a resource for future genetic studies. This experimental approach was effective in developing codominant and polymorphic SSR markers for application in diverse genetic studies. These markers have already given new insight into genetic variation in B. bituminosa, providing evidence that a division of the botanical variety bituminosa may be appropriate. This approach is commended to those seeking to develop useful markers for genomic orphan species.

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Highly efficient genetic transformation protocols and the regeneration of transgenic plants of Sugraone and Crimson Seedless grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.) were achieved from embryogenic calli co-cultured with low Agrobacterium tumefaciens densities. The sensitivity of embryogenic cultures to kanamycin, as well as the effect of Agrobacterium strains, C58(pMP90) or EHA105, and the bacterial concentration (0.06 or 0.2 at Optical Density OD 600 ) on transformation efficiency were studied. Embryogenic cultures showed different kanamycin sensitivities and the total suppression of embryo differentiation at 20 and 50 mg/l kanamycin for Crimson Seedless and Sugraone, respectively. sgfp gene expression was evaluated in callus co-cultured with each bacterial strain. Although GFP transient expression was higher with A. tumefaciens EHA105 in both cultivars at the beginning of the culture, there were no significant differences 28 days post-inoculation. However, the concentration of Agrobacterium did affected transformation efficiency: 0.06 OD 600 being more effective for the transformation of Crimson Seedless and 0.2 OD 600 for Sugraone. By following the optimised procedure, 21 and 26 independent transgenic plants were generated from Sugraone and Crimson Seedless respectively, three to five months post-infection. PCR analyses were carried out to verify the integration of the sgfp and nptII genes into grapevine genome and the stable integration of the sgfp gene was confirmed by Southern blot.

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