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July 18, 2008
Source:
CropBiotech Update
A group of scientists from the University of Bagoda in India has
developed transgenic rice varieties resistant to the rice blast
and sheath blight, devastating fungal diseases that affect rice
productivity worldwide. The scientists introduced the gene
Dm-AMP1 coding for an anti-fungal defensin from dahlia.
Expression levels of Dm-AMP1 ranged from 0.43% to 0.57% of total
soluble protein in transgenic plants. Constitutive expression of
the transgene suppresses the growth of the rice blast and sheath
blight causal organisms by 84% and 72%, respectively. The
recombinant protein was found to be specifically expressed in
the apoplastic region (diffusional spaces between cells) of the
plant tissues where they bind to interact with the fungal
membrane leading to membrane destabilization, and ultimately to
reduced proliferation of the fungal pathogen.
Subscribers can read the paper published by the journal
Transgenic Research at
http://www.springerlink.com/content/g1112022l627mk35/fulltext.pdf
Non subscribers can read the abstract at
http://www.springerlink.com/content/g1112022l627mk35/?p=007281c8d6f744b69ae1cd86a3c90e0d&pi=0 |
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