biologia plantarum

Biologia plantarum 50:683-687, 2006 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-006-0106-1

Generation of white mold disease-resistant sunflower plants expressing human lysozyme gene

W. Sawahel^1,*, A. Hagran¹

¹ Microbial Genetics Department, National Research Center, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt

Sunflower plants were transformed via co-cultivation of previously bombarded hypocotyl explants with Agrobacterium tumefaciens harboring the plasmid pNGL that contains the human lysozyme gene. The transformed shoots were selected using kanamycin and regenerated plants were analyzed using histochemical β-glucuronidase assay. Southern, Western and Northern blot analyses indicated the transfer, expression and stable integration of the foreign DNA into the sunflower genome. Resistance against the phytopathogenic fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, which causes white mold disease, was confirmed using a phytopathogenic test and microscopic observation of the infection process.

Keywords: Agrobacterium tumefaciens; fungal disease; Helianthus annuus; Sclerotinia sclerotiorum; transgenic sunflower

Subjects: Agrobacterium tumefaciens; β-glucuronidase; Helianthus annuus; Northern blot analysis; Sclerotinia sclerotiorum; Southern blot analysis; sunflower; transgenic plants (cf. also in vitro…); Western blot analysis; white mold disease

Received: April 15, 2002; Accepted: December 12, 2004; Published: December 1, 2006  Show citation