title: Expression of Rice Chitinase Gene in Genetically Engineered Tomato Confers Enhanced Resistance to Fusarium Wilt and Early Blight.
abstract: This is the first study reporting the evaluation of transgenic lines of tomato harboring rice chitinase (RCG3) gene for resistance to two important fungal pathogens Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (Fol) causing fusarium wilt and Alternaria solani causing early blight (EB). In this study, three transgenic lines TL1, TL2 and TL3 of tomato Solanum lycopersicum Mill. cv. Riogrande genetically engineered with rice chitinase (RCG 3) gene and their R1 progeny was tested for resistance to Fol by root dip method and A. solani by detached leaf assay. All the R0 transgenic lines were highly resistant to these fungal pathogens compared to non-transgenic control plants. The pattern of segregation of three independent transformant for Fol and A. solani was also studied. Mendelian segregation was observed in transgenic lines 2 and 3 while it was not observed in transgenic line 1. It was concluded that introduction of chitinase gene in susceptible cultivar of tomato not only enhanced the resistance but was stably inherited in transgenic lines 2 and 3.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology, International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Nyla
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jabeen
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Hazara University, Mansehra, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Zubeda
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chaudhary
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Comsats Institute of Information Technology Abbotabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gulfraz
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioinformatics, Mohammad Ali Jinnah University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rashid
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology, International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan ; Department of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Bushra
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mirza
keywords: early blight; fusarium wilt; rice chitinase gene; tomato