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Increased pathogen resistance and yield in transgenic plants expressing combinations of the modified antimicrobial peptides based on indolicidin and magainin

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Abstract

Reverse peptide of indolicidin (Rev4), a 13-residue peptide based on the sequence of indolicidin, has been shown to possess both strong antimicrobial and protease inhibitory activities in vitro. To evaluate its efficacy in vivo, we produced and evaluated transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) and Arabidopsis thaliana [(L.) Heynh.] plants expressing Rev4 with different signal peptide sequences for pathogen resistance. All transgenic plants showed normal growth and development, an indication of no or low cytotoxicity of the peptide. Furthermore, the transgenic plants exhibited elevated resistance to three bacterial and two oomycete pathogens. Interestingly, tobacco plants expressing Rev4 displayed enhanced yield compared to the control as indicated by an increased biomass production by as much as 34% in two field trials. When Rev4 was coexpressed with another antimicrobial peptide, Myp30, the disease resistance levels in the transgenic Arabidopsis were enhanced. These findings suggest the potential of using these peptides to protect plants from microbial pathogens and to enhance yield.

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Abbreviations

Rev4:

Reverse peptide of indolicidin

Myp30:

A modified antimicrobial peptide based on Magainin 2

RIL :

Gene symbol for Rev4

PR1b:

Pathogenesis related protein gene 1b from tobacco

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the Kentucky Tobacco Research Board and Interlink Biotechnologies LLC. We thank Dr. Xingnian Dong for providing us a bacterial pathogen. We also thank Ruth Babbitt, Troy Bass, Richard Mundell, and Chunmei Wang for technical assistance.

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Author notes

  1. Christopher B. Lawrence

    Present address: Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

  2. Nicholas P. Everett

    Present address: American BioScience Inc., Auburn, CA, 95603, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kentucky Tobacco Research and Development Center, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 40546, USA

    Hongyan Xing, Christopher B. Lawrence, Orlando Chambers, H. Maelor Davies & Qingshun Quinn Li

  2. Department of Botany, Miami University, Oxford, OH, 45056, USA

    Qingshun Quinn Li

  3. Interlink Biotechnologies LLC, Auburn, CA, 95603, USA

    Nicholas P. Everett

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  1. Hongyan Xing
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  4. H. Maelor Davies
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Correspondence to Qingshun Quinn Li.

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Xing, H., Lawrence, C.B., Chambers, O. et al. Increased pathogen resistance and yield in transgenic plants expressing combinations of the modified antimicrobial peptides based on indolicidin and magainin. Planta 223, 1024–1032 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-005-0143-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-005-0143-6

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