elisa northern blotting and southern blotting once the presence of the nucleic acid sequence or the encoded protein is confirmed these independent transgenic sunflower lines can be further tested for agronomic efficacy under growth chamber greenhouse or field conditions the following examples are included to demonstrate preferred embodiments of the invention it should be appreciated by those of skill in the art that the techniques disclosed in the examples that follow represent techniques discovered by the inventors to function well in the practice of the invention and thus can be considered to constitute preferred modes for its practice however those of skill in the art should in light of the present disclosure appreciate that many changes can be made in the specific embodiments that are disclosed and still obtain a like or similar result without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention petri dishes 25 mm in diameter were filled with approximately 20 grams of sunflower seeds and covered with lids these petri dishes were then transferred to a plastic autoclavable dessicator and placed in a fume hood at room temperature a sterile glass beaker containing 200 ml of bleach 5 25 sodium hypochlorite was placed in the center of the desiccator approximately 2 ml of concentrated hydrochloric acid 12 1 m was then added to the beaker containing the bleach the desiccator was then covered with a lid forming a tight.