SELECTION MARKER-FREE RHIZOBIACEAE-MEDIATED METHOD FOR PRODUCING A TRANSGENIC PLANT OF THE TRITICUM GENUS

1 . A method of producing a transgenic plant of the Triticum genus, comprising the steps of:

(a) transforming at least one cell of a plant of the Triticum genus with a genetic component by co-culturing cells of an explant of said plant with at least one bacterial cell from the Rhizobiaceae family, wherein said bacterial cell comprises the genetic component, and

(b) regenerating a transgenic plant of the Triticum genus from at least one transformed cell or from at least one transformed cell derived from at least one transformed cell produced in step (a),

wherein in step (a) and step (b), there is no selection of the at least one transformed cell based on a property imparted by the genetic component or a portion thereof

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the plant of the Triticum genus is from the species selected from the group consisting of Triticum aestivum, Triticum durum and Triticum spelta.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the explant comprises embryonal tissue.

4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the embryonal tissue comprises part of an immature embryo or a mature seed.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the property imparted by the genetic component or portion thereof is herbicide resistance or antibiotic resistance.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method has a transformation efficiency of at least 5%.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method has a transformation efficiency comparable to the transformation efficiency of a corresponding method involving selection of a transformed cell based on a property imparted by the genetic component or a portion thereof.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method comprises a treatment to increase a transformation efficiency.

9 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the treatment to increase the transformation efficiency results in a transformation efficiency of at least 5%.

10 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the treatment to increase the transformation efficiency comprises at least one treatment selected from the group consisting of:

i. physical and/or chemical damage to the explant or a portion thereof during co-culturing and/or after co-culturing,

ii. centrifugation of the explant before co-culturing and/or during co-culturing and/or after co-culturing,

iii. addition of silver nitrate and/or copper sulfate to a co-culturing medium,

iv. thermal treatment of the explant before co-culturing and/or during co-culturing,

v. pressure treatment of the explant before co-culturing and/or during co-culturing and/or after co-culturing,

vi. co-culturing of the explant with at least one bacterial cell from the Rhizobiaceae family in the presence of a powder and

vii. addition of cysteine to a co-culturing medium.

11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein step (b) yields non-chimeric transgenic plants with an incidence of at least 15%.

12 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises the step of:

(c) selecting the regenerated transgenic plant produced in step (b).

13 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein the selection in step (c) is based on the detection of the genetic component or a portion thereof.

14 . A transgenic plant of the Triticum genus which was produced by the method according to claim 1 or a progeny, or a portion thereof, or a seed thereof.

15 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the embryonal tissue is selected from the group consisting of radicula, embryonic axis, scutellum, and nucleus.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the genetic component is a nucleic acid molecule.

17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one bacterial cell from the Rhizobiaceae family is a bacterial cell from the Agrobacterium tumefaciens species.