Assessment of Nematode Resistance in Wheat Transgenic Plants Expressing Potato Proteinase Inhibitor (PIN2) Gene

Abstract

Serine proteinase inhibitors (IP's) are proteins found naturally in a wide range of plants with a significant role in the natural defense system of plants against herbivores. The question addressed in the present study involves assessing the ability of the serine proteinase inhibitor in combating nematode infestation. The present study involves engineering a plant serine proteinase inhibitor (pin2) gene into T. durum PDW215 by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation to combat cereal cyst nematode (Heterodera avenae) infestation. Putative T(0) transformants were screened and positive segregating lines analysed further for the study of the stable integration, expression and segregation of the genes. PCR, Southern analysis along with bar gene expression studies corroborate the stable integration pattern of the respective genes. The transformation efficiency is 3%, while the frequency of escapes was 35.71%. chi(2) analysis reveals the stable integration and segregation of the genes in both the T(1) and T(2) progeny lines. The PIN2 systemic expression confers satisfactory nematode resistance. The correlation analysis suggests that at p < 0.05 level of significance the relative proteinase inhibitor (PI) values show a direct positive correlation vis-à-vis plant height, plant seed weight and also the seed number.

Expression profile of jasmonic acid-induced genes and the induced resistance against the root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) in tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum) after foliar treatment with methyl jasmonate

“…Plant protein inhibitors are known to have inhibiting effects of nematode propagation. Various PIs isolated from cowpea, sweet potato, and potato inhibited reproduction, growth and development of nematodes (Urwin et al, 1998;Cai et al, 2003;Vishnudasan et al, 2005). The genes of PI are also expressed in a tissue-and genotype-dependent manner after wounding and nematode invasion (Turra et al, 2009).…”

The new CaSn gene belonging to the snakin family induces resistance against root-knot nematode infection in pepper

“…The inhibition of protease activity across many plant-parasitic nematodes, including both migratory and sedentary parasites, might be expected to have broad activity. Multiple studies have demonstrated that the transgenic expression of modified cysteine and serine protease inhibitors can interfere with the replication and development of plant-parasitic nematodes (Urwin et al 1997;Vishnudasan et al 2005). Some Cry proteins have been described as nematicidal, and testing of a Bt panel against freeliving nematodes demonstrated the nematicidal activity of Cry5B, Cry6A, Cry14A, and Cry21A (Wei et al 2003).…”

The Impact of Plant-Parasitic Nematodes on Agriculture and Methods of Control

“…For many years crops have been artiicially selected for their inherent disease-resistant properties through phenotypic screenings and genetic analyses. Nematode-resistant genes found in gene pools of a variety of plant species have been introgressed into the genomes of economically important crops with natural susceptibility through transgenic technologies such as agrobacterium-mediated transformation [151,152].…”