Agrobacterium-mediated floral-dip transformation of the obligate outcrosser Capsella grandiflora

Plant transformation by floral dip has been essential for research on plant genetics. The plant family Brassicaceae is one of the most well studied plant families and contains both established and emerging genetic model species. Two emerging model species that bear on the evolution of the selfing syndrome are Capsella grandiflora, an obligate outcrosser, and C. rubella, an inbreeder. While the selfing syndrome has been well characterized at the genomic level the genetic mechanisms underlying it remain elusive, in part due to the challenges of establishing mutation lines in C. grandiflora. Here, we describe an efficient method for transforming C. grandiflora by Agrobacterium-mediated floral-dip while simultaneously tracking self-incompatibility loci. With the ability to transform both C. grandiflora and C. rubella, researchers have gained a valuable tool to study the progression to selfing at the genetic level.