March 5, 2010

Source: Cro Biotech Update

By introducing the Non-expressor of Pathogenesis-Related genes-1 (NPR1) from Arabidopsis thaliana, researchers at the Texas A&M University and the United States Department of Agriculture have developed cotton strains with resistance against various fungal pathogens and reniform nematode. NPR1 plays a critical role in plant systemic acquired resistance (SAR), a long lasting defense response that is induced in plants by localized infection and provides subsequent protection against a broad spectrum of pathogens.

Cotton plants expressing the gene were found to be resistant to four important fungal diseases of cotton caused by Verticillium dahliae, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum, Rhizoctonia solani, and Alternaria alternata as well as to the nematode Rotylenchulus reniformis. Reporting in the journal Transgenic Research, the scientists said that analysis of defense-related, biochemical and molecular responses suggest that when challenged with pathogens or certain systemic acquired resistance-inducing chemicals, the transgenic lines respond to a greater degree compared to the wild-type plants. They also found that the basal activities of the defense-related genes and enzymes in uninduced transformants were no different than those in their non-transgenic counterparts.

Download the paper at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11248-010-9374-9

Website: http://www.isaaa.org/kc/

Published: March 5, 2010