We produce transgenic mature citrus for research, disease testing, and potential commercialization. If you are interested in higher throughput transformation of immature citrus with Agrobacterium, please contact the Core Transformation Facility:

https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/facilities/transformation-lab/

Ordering transgenic plants from the Mature Citrus Facility (MCF)

i). DNA of the vector is preferentially accepted and the MCF can transform it into Agrobacterium.

For commercialization of transgenics, the gus reporter gene, not gfp, should be used with nptII selection.  The pCAMBIA2301 vector is recommended and can be provided prior to sub-cloning. At this time, the gfp reporter gene has not been deregulated for commercialization. However, the gfp reporter gene and nptII selectable marker can be used for research purposes. The pTLAB21 vector, constructed by Dr. Vladimir Orbovic of the Core Transformation Lab, carries the gfp reporter that functions well in citrus. If a genetic construct with gfp looks promising in research, the transgenic must be remade with gus for commercialization. We will not accept plasmids without reporter genes.   

For cisgenic plant production, Dr. Dutt’s RMIC anthocyanin reporter from citrus works very well and can be provided prior to sub-cloning. We can provide a biolistics vector into which the gene of interest can be sub-cloned.

ii). We can sub-clone gene fragments into pCAMBIA2301 or pTLAB21 (discuss price with us).

Options & Prices:

• For commercialization, the price per transgenic event using Agrobacterium is $500.00 or $300.00 for the gus and anthocyanin reporters, respectively, for all scientists at public institutions.  For research, the price per transgenic event is $300 for the gfp reporter. For customers from industry, the price is $1,000 per Agrobacterium-mediated transgenic event. Prices for cisgenics are shown below (Table 1). Our facility is capable of producing as many transgenic events as requested. The MCF can perform two grafts (primary and secondary) and transfer the plants as soon as the grafts heal. The second grafts speeds growth of the plants significantly, but $25 is added to the price. Customers must obtain APHIS permits and pay for overnight shipping, if plants are to be shipped.
• Sub-cloning into pCAMBIA2301 with GUS or pTLAB21 with GFP (discuss price with us).
• $100 for shoot-tip grafting to introduce clean plant material (FDACS approved facility) into the growth facility (without disease testing).
• $25 per budded or rooted replicate plant.
• $25 for a secondary graft, which speeds growth, onto rootstock in the soil.
• qPCR or ELISAs can be conducted to determine high expressing events (discuss price with us).
  
  
  
  Prices for biolistic-mediated gene editing will be announced in 2019.