This invention relates to methods for the transformation of Setaria species such as Setaria viridis and transformed plants produced according to the method. Specifically, this invention relates to direct transformation of callus derived from mature embryos using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, and plants regenerated from the transformed callus tissue. The methods comprise utilizing Setaria mature embryos as the source of plant material for callus induction induced calli can be infected by Agrobacterium hosting an appropriate vector. Transgenic plants are regenerated from transgenic calli grown under conditions favoring growth of transformed cells while substantially inhibiting growth of non-transformed cells. These methods provide for significantly increased plant transformation efficiency with minimal ratio of escapes.
