Matheka, J. M.Omer, Rasha AMachuka, JesseAli, Abdelbagi M.2015-04-222015-04-222013International Journal of Genetic Engineering 2013, 3(2): 7-14 DOI: 10.5923/j.ijge.20130302.012167-72392167-7220http://article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.ijge.20130302.01.htmlhttp://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/12517DOI: 10.5923/j.ijge.20130302.01The objective of this study was to determine amenability of different tropical maize genotypes to Agrobacterium-mediated transformation with the NPK1 gene for conference of drought tolerance. To achieve this, immature embryos from thirteen maize genotypes (IL1, IL3, IL15, IL16, IL28, IL38, IL42, IL43, Hudiba-1, Hudiba-2, Mojtamma-45, A188 and KAT) were transformed by cocultivating with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain EHA101 harboring the pSHX004 vector. Transgenic tussues were recovered on PPT (3 mg/l)-containing medium. Statistically significant differences (p<0.05) were observed between the genotypes with respect to transformation frequency (TF). Overall, IL3 was identified as the most amenable to transformation with a TF of 31.7% and proved to be superior to A188, which recorded a TF of 5.82%. Hudiba-2 was identified as the most transformable open pollinated variety (OPV) with a TF of 8.7% compared to that of 7.3% for KAT. IL1 and Mojtamma-45 proved to be poor responders to transformation with TFs of 2.5% and 1.7%, respectively. Putative transgenics were recovered from IL3, IL15, Hudiba-2, IL1, IL38, Hudiba-1, A188 and KAT. The frequency of regeneration of PPT resistant shoots varied from 6% for A188 to 100% for Hudiba-2. Stable integration of the transgene was confirmed by PCR. In conclusion we have demonstrated that tropical maize genotypes adapted to Sudan are transformable with the NPK1enTropical MaizeAgrobacterium-Mediated TransformationNPK1Drought ToleranceArticle