Genetic engineering of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) For improvement of seed protein

Protein of legume grains has deficiency for sulfur aminoacids such as methionin and systein. So improvement of protein quality is an important goal in pulse breeding. We have used gus reporter gene to determine transformation percentage, ssa gene for proteins rich of systein and methionin, and bar gene for selection of transgenic plants. PCR analysis was used to confirm the transformation of putative transgenic plants in glasshouse. Gus assessment has been done in five stages. bar gene is a suitable selectable marker for obtaining transgenic plants and high transformation percentage in rapid rate. PCR results showed that 13 plants have had gus, ssa and bar genes. Transformation percentage was 4.3 %. Low rooting and establishment of shoots in glasshouse is one of the reasons for low transformation percentages. So, grafting instead of in vitro rooting is a good alternative.