TARRAGON (Artemisia dracunculus L.) “HAIRY” ROOT CULTURE PRODUCTION

This paper is devoted the biotechnology development of Artemisia dracunculus L. genetic transformation. We obtained the transgenic A. dracunculus “hairy” root culture using A. rhizogenes A4-mediated transformation. The conditions of tarragon's genetic transformation were optimized. It was shown that leaves of in vitro cultivated plants were the optimal type of explants. The transgenic root formation frequency was up to 20% in case of leaves usage. The time of explants cocultivation with Agrobacterium suspension was found to be an important factor of biotechnology which affects the frequency of transgenic root growth. Transgenic root lines differed in morphological features and growth rate. Specific mass increase varied from 17 to 32 times after 3 weeks cultivation on 1/2 Murashige-Skoog medium.