Molecular Characterization of a Nicotiana tabacum Chloroplast Mutant and in vitro Regeneration of a Cattail, Typha domingensis, from Embryonic Callus

The thesis consists of two chapters, and within each chapter is a different set
of methods and techniques that will be useful to me in future research endeavors. The
first is the transformation of tobacco chloroplast and the analysis of a resultant
chloroplast mutant, and the second is the establishment of a regeneration system for
the aquatic plant Typha domingensis, commonly known as cattail. The unifying
theme is plant transformation. The establishment of a regeneration system for a
potentially beneficial plant is useful for future transformations and the actual
transformation and analysis of mutants is useful for the characterization of
transformants. The chloroplast transformation was unsuccessful and analysis of the
mutation demonstrated it as a null mutation under normal growth conditions. Cattail
seeds were induced to form calli, then induced to regenerate into normal plants.