Regeneration and Transformation of populus Tremula with Antisense pOMT8 from stylosanthes Humilis

Populus tremula was transformed using Agrobacterium tumefaciens with antisens O-metyltransferase gene from Stylosanthes humilis (pOMT8), which is showing 83% homology with COMT gene from poplar. In four out of ten transgenic plants OMT activity has been downregulated for 30–39%, however peroxidase activity was 100% higher compared with controls. While the lignin amount in transgenic plants was not changed, lignin composition were modified. Results indicate that it is possible to downregulate endogenous OMT activity and modified lignin composition through the introduction of heterologous consract from Stylosanthes humilis in Populus tremula.