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`Wisconsin 38' tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) leaf discs were transformed with the disarmed Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain EHA101 carrying the rolC gene from A. rhizogenes (Oono et al., 1987) and NPT II and GUS genes. Shoots that regenerated on kanamycin-containing medium were confirmed as transgenic through GUS assays, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Southern blot analyses, and transmission of the foreign genes through the sexual cycle. Transgenic plants were as short as half the height of control plants; were earlier flowering by up to 35 days; and had smaller leaves, shorter internodes, smaller seed capsules, fewer seeds, smaller flowers, and reduced pollen viability. The number of seed capsules, leaf number, and specific root length were similar between transgenic and control plants. Transgenic clones varied in the expression of the rolC-induced growth alterations as did the first generation of seedlings from these clones. Such differences suggested the potential for selecting for different levels of expression. Transformation with the rolC gene presents a potentially useful method of genetically modifying horticultural crops, particularly for flowering date, height, and leaf and flower size. Chemical names used: neomycin phosphotransferase (NPTII), β-glucuronidase (GUS).

Aphid transmission of a non-aphid-transmissible strain of zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV-NAT) occurs in transgenic plants expressing the plum pox potyvirus (PPV) coat protein (CP) gene. Heteroencapsidation has been shown to be responsible for this modification in the epidemiological characteristics of the infecting virus. In order to prevent this biological risk, several modified PPV CP constructs were produced that were designed to interfere with heteroencapsidation itself or to block aphid transmission of heteroencapsidated virions. These constructs were first expressed in Escherichia coli in order to check for the accumulation of

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