ALBERT

Description: 〈h3〉Abstract〈/h3〉 〈p〉Root knot nematodes are serious threats to growth and yield of solaneous crops including tomato. In this study, a binary vector carrying 〈em〉Remusatia vivipara〈/em〉 (〈em〉rvl1〈/em〉) and 〈em〉Sclerotium rolfsii〈/em〉 (〈em〉srl1〈/em〉) lectin genes were introduced independently into 〈em〉Lycopersicon esculentum〈/em〉 cv. Pusa Ruby via 〈em〉Agrobacterium tumefaciens〈/em〉 for resistance against root knot nematode, 〈em〉Meloidogyne incognita〈/em〉. In total, one hundred and one 〈em〉rvl1〈/em〉 and 〈em〉srl1〈/em〉-transformed plants exhibiting kanamycin resistance were confirmed to carry transgenes as detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with 4.59% transformation efficiency. Genetic analysis of T〈sub〉1〈/sub〉 progeny confirmed Mendelian segregation of the introduced genes. Three events each of 〈em〉rvl1〈/em〉 and 〈em〉srl1〈/em〉 transgenic tomato were randomly selected for further confirmation by Southern and TAIL-PCR analyses. All three events of 〈em〉srl1〈/em〉 transgenics showed single copy transgene, whereas two 〈em〉rvl1〈/em〉 transgenic events showed single copy of transgene, while remaining event showed two copies of transgenes. Site of integration obtained for 〈em〉rvl1〈/em〉 and 〈em〉srl1〈/em〉 transgenic events by TAIL-PCR revealed that all the three events of 〈em〉rvl1〈/em〉 and 〈em〉srl1〈/em〉 transgenics differed for their site of integration and insertion sites did not contain any predicted gene. Moreover, expression of the 〈em〉rvl1〈/em〉 and 〈em〉srl1〈/em〉 transgenes was detected by haemagglutination assay in all three events of 〈em〉rvl1〈/em〉 and 〈em〉srl1〈/em〉, but not in non-transgenic tomato plant. Homozygous progenies of these events were grown and inoculated with 〈em〉M. incognita〈/em〉. Development and reproduction of 〈em〉M. incognita〈/em〉 was severely affected in transgenic tomato plants expressing RVL1 and SRL1 exhibiting the high levels of resistance compared to non-transgenic plants. Therefore, these transgenic lines demonstrate a promising potential for variety development of tomato lines with enhanced resistance against 〈em〉M. incognita.〈/em〉〈/p〉