Gidoni, D., Department of Plant Genetics, Institute of Field and Garden Crops, ARO, the Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Bar, M., Department of Plant Genetics, Institute of Field and Garden Crops, ARO, the Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Leshem, B., Department of Plant Genetics, Institute of Field and Garden Crops, ARO, the Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Gilboa, N., Department of Plant Genetics, Institute of Field and Garden Crops, ARO, the Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Mett, A., Department of Plant Genetics, Institute of Field and Garden Crops, ARO, the Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Feiler, J., Department of Plant Genetics, Institute of Field and Garden Crops, ARO, the Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
 

FLP site-specific recombination has been shown in transgenic plants to excise DNA sequences between target FRT sites, and thereby activate transgenes in plants. In previous reports, crossing of tobacco plants expressing FLP recombinase from a CaMV-35s promoter with plants containing the target FRT sites, hybrid plants with deletion sectors were generated, which were infrequently transmitted to progeny. In this report we evaluate the occurrence of recombination in F1 hybrid seed derived from crosses of different FLP and FRT-reporter target lines and the germinal transmission of recombined loci from these hybrids to F2 progeny. Twenty hybrids were generated from crosses of independent five FLP-active lines and four FRT-reporter target lines. In one hybrid, FLP deletions occurred at an early stage, prior to seed maturation, and the deletions from this hybrid were more efficiently transmitted to F2 progeny. The demonstration of FLP-mediated recombination activity and germinal inheritance of the recombined FRT loci are supported by both molecular and enzymatic evidence.