Abstract
We have expressed the gene (PAB1) encoding the yeast polyadenylate-binding protein (Pab1p) in tobacco. Plants that accumulate the Pab1p display a range of abnormalities, ranging from a characteristic chlorosis in leaves to a necrosis and large inhibition of growth. The severity of these abnormalities reflects the levels of yeast Pab1p expression in the transgenic plants. In contrast, no obvious differences could be seen in callus cultures between the transgene and vector control. Plants that display PAB-associated abnormalities were resistant to a range of plant pathogens, and had elevated levels of expression of a pathogenesis-related gene. These two properties - impairment of growth and induction of defense responses - indicate that the yeast PAB1 gene can act as a disease lesion mimic gene in plants.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 335-344 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Plant Molecular Biology |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2000 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We are grateful to Maurice Swanson for the gift of antibody against the yeast PAB and Robert Houtz for providing anti-rbcL antisera. This work was supported in part by USDA-University of Kentucky Cooperative Agreement 58-43YK-7-0025 and USDA Competitive Grant 89-37262-4835. Q.L. and C.L. were supported by funds from the Kentucky Tobacco Research Board.
Keywords
- Disease resistance
- Lesion mimic
- Poly(A)-binding proteins
- Posttranscriptional control
- SAR
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agronomy and Crop Science
- Genetics
- Plant Science