Enhanced resistance to Botrytis cinerea mediated by the transgenic expression of the chitinase gene ch5B in strawberry

VELLICCE, GABRIEL RICARDO; DIAZ RICCI, JUAN CARLOS; HERNÁNDEZ GARCÍA, LÁZARO; CASTAGNARO, ATILIO PEDRO

Transgenic Research

Springer

Lugar: Dordrecht, The Netherland; Año: 2006 vol. 15 p. 57 - 68

0962-8819

Plants of strawberry of the cultivar Pájaro were transformed with three defense related genes: ch5B, gln2 and ap24 by using Agrobacterium tumefasceins. The ch5B gene encodes for a chitinase from Phaseolus vulgaris, while gln2 and ap24 encode for a glucanase and a thaumatin-like protein, respectively, both from Nicotiana tabacum. Sixteen transgenic lines expressing one or a combination of two defense genes were obtained. Phypathological tests showed that two transgenic lines expressing only the gene ch5B displayed high levels of resistance to gray mold disease (Botrytis cinerea). The resistance was correlated with the presence of the foreign protein CH5B and the increase of chitinolytic activity in leaves. However, resistance toward Colletotrichum acutatum, the etiological agent of the anthracnose disease, was not enhanced in the transgenic plants. These results suggest that the ch5B gene can be used to introduce resistance to gray mold in strawberry, and the latter becomes crucial due to the lack of natural resistance to this disease found in this crop.