Adeno-associated virus type 2 (AAV-2) integrates preferentially into a defined site on human chromosome 19, and has been developed as a gene therapy vector. We propose to use this unique recombination event for site-specific integration of transgenes in plants. This strategy would alleviate problems associated with current plant transformation methods that integrate transgenes randomly. The AAV-2 gene encoding the enzyme that catalyzes the insertion (rep78) was introduced into Arabidopsis thaliana via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. PCR and sequence analysis confirmed the presence of rep78 in two plant lines. RT-PCR demonstrated rep78 transcription in one plant line, but protein could not be detected in either line.