Bacillus thuringiensis is the major source for transfer of genes to impart insect resistance in transgenic plants. Cry2A proteins of B. thuringiensis are promising candidates for management of resistance development in insects owing to their difference from the currently used Cry1A proteins, in structure and insecticidal mechanism. The cry2Ab gene was found to lack a functional promoter and, hence, is cryptic in nature. The cry2Ab7 gene was cloned from a new indigenous B. thuringiensis strain, 14-1. Nucleotide sequencing of the cry2Ab gene cloned from B. thuringiensis strain 14-1 revealed an open reading frame of 1902 bp. The deduced amino acid sequence of Cry2Ab of B. thuringiensis strain 14-1 showed a variation in three amino acid residues in comparison to the holotype sequence, Cry2Ab1. Expression of the newly cloned cry2Ab gene was studied in an acrystalliferous strain of B. thuringiensis (4Q7) by fusing the cry2Ab gene downstream of cry2Aa promoter and orf1 + orf2 sequences. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of a spore-crystal mixture obtained from transformants of B. thuringiensis strain 4Q7 showed production of Cry2Ab protein of about 65 kDa. Alkali solubilized Cry2Ab7 protein showed toxicity against Helicoverpa armigera neonates.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a staple food crop that could play a major role in improving food security in developing nations. The sustainable production of this crop faces many challenges like pests, diseases, abiotic stresses and post-harvest problems. Transgenic technology and gene silencing strategies offered a new hope of solution to the conventional time consuming breeding programmes. However the genetically modified crops are affected by regulatory approvals and safety concerns. In this aspect, gene editing techniques like ZFNs (zinc-finger nucleases), TALENs (transcription activator-like effector nucleases), and CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR associated Cas9), offer better choice for production of transgene and marker free disease resistant potatoes.

Eggplantor brinjal (Solanum melongena L.), is highly susceptible to various soil-borne diseases. The extensive use of chemical fungicides to combat these diseases can be minimized by identification of resistance gene analogs (RGAs) in wild species of cultivated plants.In the present study, degenerate PCR primers for the conserved regions ofnucleotide binding site-leucine rich repeat (NBS-LRR) were used to amplify RGAs from wild relatives of eggplant (Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum), Indian nightshade (Solanumviolaceum)and Solanu mincanum) which showed resistance to the bacterial wilt pathogen, Ralstonia solanacearumin the preliminary investigation. The amino acid sequence of the amplicons when compared to each other and to the amino acid sequences of known RGAs deposited in Gen Bank revealed significant sequence similarity. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that they belonged to the toll interleukin-1 receptors (TIR)-NBS-LRR type R-genes. Multiple sequence alignment with other known R genes showed significant homology with P-loop, Kinase 2 and GLPL domains of NBS-LRR class genes. There has been no report on R genes from these wild eggplants and hence the diversity analysis of these novel RGAs can lead to the identification of other novel R genes within the germplasm of different brinjal plants as well as other species of Solanum.

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