Recombinant Protein in Tobacco for Fungal and Insect Resistance
September 21, 2007| |
By inserting a gene coding for the chitinase, a protein from an insect virus, a group of Italian researchers obtained transgenic tobacco lines showing increased resistance to fungal pathogens and lepidoteran larvae. Since chitinase does not negatively affect non-target organisms that lack chitin, like plants and vertebrates, it has been regarded as an interesting candidate for plant protection. Chitin is present in the cell wall of many fungal pathogens as well as in the gut lining of several insect species.
The GM lines obtained were found to be resistant to the fungus B. cinerea and the tobacco budworm, two pests that gravely affect tobacco production worldwide. Although the transgenic lines did not show complete resistance to the tobacco budworm, significant increase in larval mortality was observed. The expression of the recombinant ChiA protein did not have any effect on the aphid populations. This is the first report on the characterization and expression of a single gene in plants with increased resistance against lepidopteran larvae and fungal pathogens without affecting non-target organisms.
Read more at http://www.springerlink.com/content/f8v7427225104314/?p=9cf0168ff2ed4236a1bc78a3eef69c2d&pi=4 or http://www.springerlink.com/content/f8v7427225104314/fulltext.pdf
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