Enhanced protection against two major fungal pathogens of groundnut, Cercospora arachidicola and Aspergillus flavus in transgenic groundnut over-expressing a tobacco β 1–3 glucanase

Abstract

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.

Synthetic cry1AcF Gene Imparts Resistance to Spodoptera litura (F.) and Amsacta albistriga Walker in Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) cv. VRI-2

“…In this direction, grid PCR, a technique where composite samples are analysed by PCR was used for primary identification of putative transformants. Grid PCR-based screening has been used successfully in the identification of putative transformants in our earlier studies (Keshamma et al, 2008;Sundaresha et al, 2010). In the present investigation, based on grid PCR, carried out in T 1 generation in VRI-2 peanut variety, the potential success rate was 26.03 per cent.…”

Preliminary assessment on Agrobacterium-mediated Transformation of Dendrobium Broga Giant orchids PLBs

“…For example, leaf midrib of ramie and embryogenic calli of sweet potato immersed in Agrobacterium suspension for 10 minutes , generated higher number of gusA positive transformants. However, effectiveness of longer immersion periods such as 30 minutes , 40 minutes (Arthikala et al, 2011), 60 minutes (Prashantkumar et al, 2011) or up to 10 hours (Belarmino and Mii, 2000) and even 16 hours (Sundaresha et al, 2010) have been reported in previously.…”

Genetically Engineered Antifungal Wheat has no Detrimental Effects on the Key Soil Species Lumbricus terrestris

“…In addition to chitinase expression, A13 plants also include genes coding for glucanase. Chitinase and glucanase are defensive proteins that enzymatically break down chitin and glucan respectively, two widespread integral parts of the cell walls in fungi (Kotilainen et al, 2004;Sundaresha et al, 2010). The transgenes in A9 and A13 stem from barley plants.…”