Enhanced resistance to Botrytis cinerea mediated by the transgenic expression of the chitinase gene ch5B in strawberry.
Plants of strawberry (cultivar Pájaro) were transformed with three defense related genes: ch5B, gln2 and ap24 using Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The ch5B gene encodes for a chitinase from Phaseolus vulgaris, while gln2 and ap24 encode for a glucanase and a thaumatin-like protein, respectively, both from Nicotiana tabacum. Sixteen transgenic lines expressing one or a combination of two defense genes were obtained. Phytopathological tests showed that two transgenic lines expressing only the ch5B gene displayed high levels of resistance to gray mold disease (Botrytis cinerea). The resistance was correlated with the presence of the foreign protein CH5B and the increase of chitinolytic activity in leaves. However, resistance toward Colletotrichum acutatum, the etiological agent of the anthracnose disease, was not enhanced in the transgenic plants. These results suggest that the ch5B gene can be used to introduce transgene-mediated resistance to gray mold in strawberry, due to the lack of natural resistance to this disease in the crop.
Departamento de Bioquímica de la Nutrición, Facultad de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química Biológica Dr Bernabé Bloj, Química y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Chacabuco 461, CP, 4000, Tucumán, Argentina.
Gabriel R
GR
Vellicce
Juan C Díaz
JC
Ricci
Lázaro
L
Hernández
Atilio P
AP
Castagnaro
D015152:Blotting, Northern; D020171:Botrytis; D002688:Chitinases / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D007887:Fabaceae / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D031985:Fragaria / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology*; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified
D002688:Chitinases