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Transgenic rice plants expressing the snowdrop lectin gene (gna) exhibit high-level resistance to the whitebacked planthopper (Sogatella furcifera)

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Abstract

Transgenic rice plants, expressing snowdrop lectin [Galanthus nivalis agglutinin (GNA)], obtained by Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation, were evaluated for resistance against the insect, the whitebacked planthopper (WBPH). The transgene gna was driven by the phloem-specific, rice-sucrose synthase promoter RSs1, and the bar was driven by the CaMV 35S promoter. In our previous study, the transgenic status of these lines was confirmed by Southern, Northern and Western blot analyses. Both the transgenes, gna and bar, were stably inherited and co-segregated into progenies in T1 to T5 generations. Insect bioassays on transgenic plants revealed the potent entomotoxic effects of GNA on the WBPH. Also, significant decreases were observed in the survival, development and fecundity of the insects fed on transgenic plants. Furthermore, intact GNA was detected in the total proteins of WBPHs fed on these plants. Western blot analysis revealed stable and consistent expression of GNA throughout the growth and development of transgenic plants. Transgenic lines expressing GNA exhibited high-level resistance against the WBPH. As reported earlier, these transgenics also showed substantial resistance against the brown planthopper and green leafhopper .

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Acknowledgements

We are thankful to the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, and the Rockefeller Foundation, USA, for their generous financial assistance. We thank Dr. Toshihiko Komari, Japan Tobacco, Japan, for providing pSB1 and pSB11 Agrobacterium vectors and Dr. John A Gatehouse, University of Durham, UK for making available plasmid pRSSGNA. D.N. and S.R. are thankful to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India, for the award of Senior Research Fellowship. We are grateful to Prof. T. Papi Reddy, Department of Genetics, Osmania University, for his suggestions in improving the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Plant Molecular Biology, Osmania University, Hyderabad, 500 007, India

    D. Nagadhara, S. Ramesh, V. D. Reddy & K. V. Rao

  2. Directorate of Rice Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, 500 030, India

    I. C. Pasalu, Y. Kondala Rao & N. P. Sarma

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  1. D. Nagadhara
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  2. S. Ramesh
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  3. I. C. Pasalu
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  4. Y. Kondala Rao
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  5. N. P. Sarma
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  6. V. D. Reddy
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  7. K. V. Rao
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Correspondence to K. V. Rao.

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Communicated by Q. Zhang

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Nagadhara, D., Ramesh, S., Pasalu, I.C. et al. Transgenic rice plants expressing the snowdrop lectin gene (gna) exhibit high-level resistance to the whitebacked planthopper (Sogatella furcifera). Theor Appl Genet 109, 1399–1405 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-004-1750-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-004-1750-5

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