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A mitogen-activated protein kinase gene, AhMPK3 of peanut: molecular cloning, genomic organization, and heterologous expression conferring resistance against Spodoptera litura in tobacco

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Abstract

Mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade plays a very important role in plant signal transduction mechanism. A full length cDNA of 1,514 bp length, corresponding to a mitogen-activated protein kinase gene was cloned from peanut (Arachis hypogaea). Based on its high homology with Arabidopsis AtMPK3, the cDNA was designated as AhMPK3. It carried an open reading frame of 1,113 bp encoding a 371 amino acid polypeptide. AhMPK3 bears TEY motif in its activation loop and belongs to the A1 subgroup of MAPK family. Southern blot analysis revealed that AhMPK3 exists in two copies in peanut genome and its structural organization revealed well-conserved nature of these signaling components across different species. AhMPK3 when transiently expressed in tobacco leaves was found to localize in both nucleus and cytoplasm. Transgenic tobacco plants ectopically expressing AhMPK3 exhibited enhanced resistance to first and second instar larvae of Spodoptera litura and constitutively higher transcript levels of defense response genes like PR1a, PR1b, LOX1, PI–II etc. Apart from this when wounded, transgenic plants accumulated high levels of PI–II and PR1b transcripts rapidly compared to wild type indicating the occurrence of a priming phenomenon.

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Acknowledgments

KRRK is grateful to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India for financial support in the form of JRF and SRF. This work is funded by Volkswagen Foundation, Germany and by a Research Grant (BT/PR/6853/PBD/16/627/2005) from Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. The authors are thankful to Prof. Heinz Saedler, Max-Planck-Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany for his interest in the study and also grateful to DST-FIST, UGC-SAP, Government of India, for the facilities provided to the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Hyderabad.

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  1. Department of Plant Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, 500046, India

    Koppolu Raja Rajesh Kumar, Tantravahi Srinivasan & Pulugurtha Bharadwaja Kirti

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Kumar, K.R.R., Srinivasan, T. & Kirti, P.B. A mitogen-activated protein kinase gene, AhMPK3 of peanut: molecular cloning, genomic organization, and heterologous expression conferring resistance against Spodoptera litura in tobacco. Mol Genet Genomics 282, 65–81 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00438-009-0446-6

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