Expression of shoot-inducing Ti TL-DNA in differentiated tissues of potato (Solanum tuberosum cv Maris Bard)

In potato line Mb1501B one or possibly two normal size Ti TL-DNA copies per tetraploid genome were detected by Southern blot analysis, but no TR-DNA. The TL-DNA probably contained the entire transposon Tn1831 inserted at the T-DNA auxin gene for transcript 2. Northern blot analyses of the steady-state RNA in different Mb1501B tissues isolated from (i) shoots cultured in vitro (ii) grafted plants and (iii) tubers, showed that that TL-DNA transcripts 3, 4, 6a and 7 were expressed most abundantly in the cultured shoots. They formed approximately 0.0023 to 0.0007% of the total poly(A) RNA. Transcripts 1, 5 and 6b were not detected in any of the tissues analysed. This indicated even lower levels of expression (below approximately 0.0001% of the total poly(A) RNA or, making certain assumptions, an abundance of less than one T-DNA derived RNA molecule per cell). As expected, transcript 2 was not detected in any of the Mb1501B tissues. The abundance of the transcripts was reduced in grafted plants and tubers compared with cultured shoots with the greatest decrease (5×) for transcripts 4, 6a and 7. Transcript 4, the one most responsible for the changed growth and development of Mb 1501 B, formed approximately 0.0003% of the poly(A) RNA from both grafted plants and tubers.