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A ribosome-inactivating protein (curcin 2) induced from Jatropha curcas can reduce viral and fungal infection in transgenic tobacco

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Abstract

A new kind of ribosome-inactivating protein (curcin 2), induced by several different kinds of stress from Jatropha curcas leaves, under the control of the CaMV (cauliflower mosaic virus) 35S promoter, was introduced into the tobacco genome by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation method. The curcin 2 protein was only detected in the transgenic tobacco plantlets transformed with the cur2p fragment (coding premature curcin 2 protein), but not in the plantlets with the cur2m fragment (coding mature curcin 2 protein). The T1 population of the transgenic lines shows an increased tolerance to tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and a fungal pathogen Rhizoctonia solani by delaying the development of systemic symptoms of TMV and reducing the damage caused by the fungal disease. The increases of the tolerances correspond to the curcin 2 level in the transgenic plants.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr. Wang Feng-Long from the Institute of Tobacco Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong, China, who donated the TMV used in this study. This work was supported by the key science and technology project of the Ministry of Education of China (104151).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610064, China

    Ming-Xing Huang, Pei Hou, Qin Wei, Ying Xu & Fang Chen

  2. Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Light Industry, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China

    Ming-Xing Huang

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  1. Ming-Xing Huang
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  2. Pei Hou
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  3. Qin Wei
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  4. Ying Xu
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Correspondence to Ying Xu.

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Huang, MX., Hou, P., Wei, Q. et al. A ribosome-inactivating protein (curcin 2) induced from Jatropha curcas can reduce viral and fungal infection in transgenic tobacco. Plant Growth Regul 54, 115–123 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-007-9234-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-007-9234-7

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