Conversion of compatible plant-pathogen interactions into incompatible interactions by expression of the Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae 61 hrmA gene in transgenic tobacco plants

Songhai Shen, Qingshun Li, Sheng Yang He, Kenneth R. Barker, Debao Li, Arthur G. Hunt

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

The hrmA gene from Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae has previously been shown to confer avirulence on the virulent bacterium P. syringae pv. tabaci in all examined tobacco cultivars. We expressed this gene in tobacco plants under the control of the tobacco Δ0.3 TobRB7 promoter, which is induced upon nematode infection in tobacco roots (Opperman et al., 1994, Science, 263, 221-223). A basal level of hrmA expression in leaves of transgenic plants activated the expression of pathogenesis-related genes, and the transgenic plants exhibited high levels of resistance to multiple pathogens: tobacco vein mottling virus, tobacco etch virus, black shank fungus Phytophthora parasitica, and wild fire bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci. However, the hrmA transgenic plants were not significantly more resistant to root-knot nematodes. Our results suggest a potential use of controlled low-level expression of bacterial avr genes, such as hrmA, in plants to generate broad-spectrum resistance to bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)205-213
Number of pages9
JournalPlant Journal
Volume23
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2000

Keywords

  • Apoptosis
  • Avr
  • Disease resistance
  • Hrp
  • Hypersensitive response
  • Systemic acquired resistance

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Genetics
  • Plant Science
  • Cell Biology

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