Inheritance and expression of chimeric genes in the progeny of transgenic maize plants

We obtained transgenic maize plants by using high-velocity microprojectiles to transfer genes into embryogenic cells. Two selectable genes were used to confer resistance to either chlorsulfuron or phosphinothricin, and genes encoding either E. coli β-glucuronidase or firefly luciferase were used as markers to provide convenient assays for transformation. When regenerated without selection, only two of the eight transformed embryogenic calli obtained produced transgenic maize plants. With selection, transgenic plants were obtained from three of the other eight calli. One of the two initial lines produced 15 fertile transgenic plants. The progeny of these plants contained and expressed the foreign genes. Luciferase expression could be visualized, in the presence of added luciferin, by overlaying leaf sections with color film.