Pigeon pea is an important legume. Yield losses due to insect pests are enormous in the cultivation of this crop. Expression of cry proteins has led to increased resistance to pests in several crops. We report in this paper, expression of a chimeric cry1AcF (encoding cry1Ac and cry1F domains) gene in transgenic pigeon pea and its resistance towards Helicoverpa armigera. PCR, Southern hybridization, RT‐PCR and Western analysis confirmed stable integration and expression of the cry1AcF gene in pigeon pea transgenics. When screened for efficacy of the transformants for resistance against H. armigera, the transgenics showed not only high mortality of the larva but could also resist the damage caused by the larvae. Analysis for the stable integration, expression and efficacy of the transgenics resulted in the identification of four T3 plants arising from two T1 backgrounds as highly promising. The results demonstrate potentiality of the chimeric cry1AcF gene in developing H. armigera‐resistant pigeon pea.
Groundnut is an important oilseed crop of the Indian subcontinent. Yield losses due to fungal diseases are enormous in the cultivation of this crop. Over-expression of PR proteins leads to increased resistance to pathogenic fungi in several crops. The PR protein glucanase hydrolyses a major cell-wall component, glucan, of pathogenic fungi and acts as a plant defense barrier. We report in this paper, overexpression of a tobacco glucanase in transgenic groundnut and its resistance towards Cercospora arachidicola and Aspergillus flavus. PCR, Southern and Northern hybridization confirmed stable integration and expression of the glucanase gene in groundnut transgenics. When screened for resistance against Cercospora arachidicola the transgenics showed not only reduction in the number of spots but also delay in the onset of disease. Resistance was also demonstrated against one another important pathogen of groundnut, Aspergillus flavus. The transgenics not only resisted hyphal spread but also did not accumulate aflatoxin in the seeds. The results demonstrate the potential of a PR protein from a heterologous source in developing fungal disease resistant groundnut.
Large number of primary transgenic events were generated in groundnut by an Agrobacterium mediated, in planta transformation method to assess the efficacy of cry1AcF against the Spodoptera litura. generation demonstrated homozygous nature. This clearly proved that though there is considerable improvement in average mean % larval mortality in T 2 generation, the cry1AcF gene was effective against S. litura only to some extent.
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