An insight into T-DNA integration events in Medicago sativa

The molecular mechanisms of transferred DNA (T-DNA) integration into the plant genome are still not completely understood. A large number of integration events have been analyzed in different species, shedding light on the molecular mechanisms involved, and on the frequent transfer of vector sequences outside the T-DNA borders, the so-called vector backbone (VB) sequences. In this work, we characterized 46 transgenic alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) plants (events), generated in previous works, for the presence of VB tracts, and sequenced several T-DNA/genomic DNA (gDNA) junctions. We observed that about 29% of the transgenic events contained VB sequences, within the range reported in other species. Sequence analysis of the T-DNA/gDNA junctions evidenced larger deletions at LBs compared to RBs and insertions probably originated by different integration mechanisms. Overall, our findings in alfalfa are consistent with those in other plant species. This work extends the knowledge on the molecular events of T-DNA integration and can help to design better transformation protocols for alfalfa.