title: Expression of the Galanthus nivalis agglutinin (GNA) gene in transgenic potato plants confers resistance to aphids.
abstract: Aphids, the largest group of sap-sucking pests, cause significant yield losses in agricultural crops worldwide every year. The massive use of pesticides to combat this pest causes severe damage to the environment, putting in risk the human health. In this study, transgenic potato plants expressing Galanthus nivalis agglutinin (GNA) gene were developed using CaMV 35S and ST-LS1 promoters generating six transgenic lines (35S1-35S3 and ST1-ST3 corresponding to the first and second promoter, respectively). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis indicated that the GNA gene was expressed in leaves, stems and roots of transgenic plants under the control of the CaMV 35S promoter, while it was only expressed in leaves and stems under the control of the ST-LS1 promoter. The levels of aphid mortality after 5 days of the inoculation in the assessed transgenic lines ranged from 20 to 53.3%. The range of the aphid population in transgenic plants 15 days after inoculation was between 17.0±1.43 (ST2) and 36.6±0.99 (35S3) aphids per plant, which corresponds to 24.9-53.5% of the aphid population in non-transformed plants. The results of our study suggest that GNA expressed in transgenic potato plants confers a potential tolerance to aphid attack, which appears to be an alternative against the use of pesticides in the future.
authors.affiliation: Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science, Gansu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic and Germplasm Enhancement, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, People's Republic of China; College of Life Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, People's Republic of China; The Eighth Middle School of Tianshui City, Tianshui 620500, Gansu Province, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaoxiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Mi
authors.affiliation: Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science, Gansu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic and Germplasm Enhancement, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, People's Republic of China; College of Life Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science, Gansu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic and Germplasm Enhancement, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, People's Republic of China; College of Life Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Haolu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science, Gansu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic and Germplasm Enhancement, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, People's Republic of China; College of Life Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science, Gansu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic and Germplasm Enhancement, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, People's Republic of China; College of Life Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiangyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science, Gansu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic and Germplasm Enhancement, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, People's Republic of China; College of Life Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jiangwei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science, Gansu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic and Germplasm Enhancement, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, People's Republic of China; College of Life Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Huaijun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Si
authors.affiliation: Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science, Gansu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic and Germplasm Enhancement, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, People's Republic of China; College of Life Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: ningzh@gsau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000373:Agglutinins / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D001042:Aphids; D027801:Galanthus / Q000235:genetics*; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D010572:Pest Control, Biological / Q000379:methods*; D010935:Plant Diseases; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics*; D011153:Population; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011198:Solanum tuberosum / Q000235:genetics*; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D000373:Agglutinins
keywords: Aphid; GNA; Insect resistance; Leaf and stem-specific promoter; Transgenic potato