Transformação genética de fumo visando controle de Fusarium oxysporum via Oxalato Descarboxilase e resistência a Xanthomonas fragarie via peptídeo antimicrobiano PgAMP1

Abstract

The strawberry is produced and consumed in a variety of regions in the world, being the group of small fruits’ species of greater appreciation and high economic returns. A major problem in strawberry culture is the disease incidence that can appear in several stages of the cycle, attacking from the newly planted seeding to the fruit in the final stage of production. Due to this susceptibility to diseases and pests, the pesticide use is common in strawberries cultivation. Regarding this, the use of varieties resistant to fungi and bacteria may be a good alternative in order to improve fruit quality and to lower production cost, since consumers are increasingly demanding fruits with a lower level of pesticides. In the present study, Nicotiana tabacum plants were transformed with Flammulina velutipes OxDc gene and Psidium guajava Pg-AMP1 aiming to evaluate the effect of the enzyme Oxalate Decarboxylase produced by the gene OxDc in plant resistance to factors that induce cell death in tissues infected by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum, and the effect of raw extract containing the Pg-AMP1 peptide extracted from tobacco leaves against gram-negative bacterium Xanthomonas fragarie in vitro. Genetic transformation Agrobacterium-mediated experiments allowed the production of 8 transgenic lines N. tabacum OxDc and 7 transgenic lines of N. tabacum Pg-AMP1, representing different transformation events. The plants were biochemically and molecular characterized to confirm the integration, expression and function of the genes inserted in the lines obtained both for the gene OxDc and Pg-AMP1. Tests for resistance to 20 mM oxalic acid had less severe symptoms in OxDc transformed tobacco lines than the non-transformed plants. Concerning the strength of the leaves against Fusarium oxysporum attack, OxDc gene has also shown to confer resistance to the transgenic lines. It was possible to detect the presence of Pg-AMP1 peptide in the raw extract from Pg-AMP1 tobacco leaves through Western blot. Thus, the in vitro bioassay carried out using the raw extract containing the Pg-AMP1 peptide showed bactericidal activity against the phyto-pathogenic bacteria Xanthomonas Fragarie. Together these results XII determine the viability of OxDc and Pg-AMP1 genes in the use of strawberry genetic transformation aiming the reduction in the damage caused by pathogens that attack the crop.