ENGINEERING IMPROVED RESISTANCE AGAINST THE FIRE BLIGHT PATHOGEN IN APPLE CULTIVARS ´ELSTAR´ AND ´ROYAL GALA´ BY EXPRESSION OF HUMAN LACTOFERRIN

Fire blight, caused by Erwinia amylovora, is a devastating disease of rosaceous plants.
Spraying of antibiotics is highly effective in protecting plants from infection but alternatives are urgently needed.
An increased resistance against the pathogen has been reported for transgenic apple expressing antibacterial peptides or proteins. Nicotiana tabacum SRI, and the apple cultivars ‘Elstar’ and ‘Royal Gala’ were transformed via Agrobacterium tumefaciens with a gene encoding lactoferrin.
The lactoferrin gene was preceded by a leader peptide for apoplastic secretion.
The recombinant protein was detected by western blot analyses of transgenic tobacco.
The molecular weight of the recombinant protein was similar to native lactoferrin indicating functionality of the transferred expression cassette.
First attempts at transformation of apple cultivars ‘Elstar’ and ‘Royal Gala’ with the gene construct resulted in the recovery of malformed shoots, which declined later on.
More experiments are underway to improve this situation.

X International Workshop on Fire Blight

B. Schneider, C. Berwarth, W. Jelkmann

Erwinia amylovora, transgenic apple, tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum SRI, apoplastic localization

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2006.704.86