Protein extract of tobacco expressing StoVe1 gene inhibits Verticillium dahliae proliferation

Abstract

Verticillium dahliae is a principal pathogen causing verticillium wilt in Solanaceae crops. StoVe1 is a gene resisting to verticillium wilt isolated from Solanum torvum. In order to generate resistant tobacco plants, StoVe1 was inserted in the orientation behind CaMV 35S promoter of vector pGS and this construct was introduced into tobacco by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. A total of 12 kanamycin-resistant plants were generated and 7 independent transgenic lines were identified by PCR analysis. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that the levels of StoVe1 transcript in transgenic lines were up to 2-6 fold higher than in the control. Anti-fungal assay indicated that the protein extract of transgenic tobacco lines showed strong inhibition activity to V. dahliae, 2 fold or higher compared to control plants. This result reveals that StoVe1, as a V. dahliae resistance gene, has an application potential in plant breeding for verticillium wilt resistance.

Ergosterol‐targeting fusion antifungal peptide significantly increases the Verticillium wilt resistance of cotton

“…To express BbAFP1 and BbAFP1::ErBD in tobacco, the constructs used in transgenic cotton were transformed into tobacco using A. tumefaciens strain LBA4404 (Liu et al ., 2013). The expression of BbAFP1 and BbAFP1::ErBD was analysed by real‐time PCR with the tobacco NtEF‐1α gene (Table S2) as the reference as well as by Western blotting using plant extracts.…”