Inhibition of Agrobacterium-induced necrosis - actual pending claims

A method of transforming a plant cell with a gene of interest, comprising

• exposing said plant cell to Agrobacterium under conditions which inhibit Agrobacterium-induced necrosis (AIN), wherein
  said Agrobacterium comprises a vector comprising said gene of interest.

A method of making a fertile, transgenic plant comprising: A) transforming plant tissue by exposing the tissue to Agrobacterium under conditions which inhibit Agrobacterium- induced necrosis (AIN); and
B) regenerating tissue thus transformed, wherein said Agrobacterium comprises a vector comprising a gene of interest.

A plant, plant tissue or plant cell comprising a nucleotide sequence of heterologous origin which inhibits AIN.

A plant cell or tissue culture medium, comprising:
A) a chemical inhibitor of AIN;
B) an Agrobacterium comprising a plasmid comprising a gene of interest; and
C) water and essential salts.

A method of transforming a totipotent cell of a plant of the family Gramineae, comprising

• exposing a population of said totipotent cells to Agrobacterium comprising a plasmid comprising a gene of interest, wherein
  the Agrobacterium is of a strain which does not induce significant levels of necrosis in said population at an exposure duration and concentration sufficient to achieve transformation of said cell.

A method for determining the suitability of an Agrobacterium strain for use in the transformation of a regenerable cell of a plant of the family Gramineae comprising: A) exposing a population of said regenerable cells of the plant to the Agrobacterium strain; and
B) observing the necrosis in said cell population.

An Agrobacterium strain which has been genetically modified to reduce or eliminate expression of the Agrobacterium necrosis factor or a derivative of such a modified strain.