Adverse effect of the chitinolytic enzyme PjCHI‐1 in transgenic tomato on egg mass production and embryonic development of Meloidogyne incognita |
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| Authors: | Y‐L Chan D Cai P W J Taylor M‐T Chan K W Yeh |
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| Institution: | 1. Institute of Plant Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei;2. Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan;3. Molecular Phytopathology, Christian Albrechts University of Kiel, Hermann‐Rodewald‐Str. 9, Kiel, Germany;4. BioMarka/Center for Plant Health, School of Agriculture and Food Systems, Faculty of Land and Food Resources, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia;5. Biotechnology Center in Southern Taiwan, Academia Sinica, Tainan, Taiwan |
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| Abstract: | A novel chitinase gene (PjCHI‐1) isolated from Paecilomyces javanicus, a non‐nematophagous fungus, and driven by a CaMV35S promoter, was delivered into CLN2468D, a heat‐tolerant cultivar of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). T1 tomato plants exhibited high endochitinase activity and reduced numbers of eggs and egg masses when infected with the root‐knot nematode (RKN) Meloidogyne incognita. The eggs found in transgenic tomato had lower shell chitin contents than eggs collected from control plants. Egg masses from transgenic plants exhibited higher chitinase activity than those from control plants. Moreover, only 30% of eggs from transgenic plants were able to develop to the multi‐cell/J1 stage, compared with more than 96% from control plants. The present study demonstrated that the expression of the PjCHI‐1 chitinase gene can effectively reduce the production of egg masses and repress the embryonic development of M. incognita, presenting the possibility of a novel agro‐biotechnological strategy for preventing crop damage by RKN. |
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| Keywords: | embryogenesis fungal chitinase PjCHI‐1 reproductivity root‐knot nematode Solanum lycopersicum |
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