Journal article
Defensin promoters as potential tools for engineering disease resistance in cereal grains
N Kovalchuk, M Li, F Wittek, N Reid, R Singh, N Shirley, A Ismagul, S Eliby, A Johnson, AS Milligan, M Hrmova, P Langridge, S Lopato
Plant Biotechnology Journal | WILEY | Published : 2010
Abstract
Engineering of plant protection in cereals requires well characterized tissue-specific and wounding/pathogen-inducible promoters for targeted expression of pathogen responsive and resistance genes. We describe the isolation of seven wheat and rice defensin genes expressed in early developing grain and during grain germination, two developmental stages that are particularly vulnerable to pathogens and insects. Comparison of three-dimensional (3D) models of these rice and wheat PRPI defensins indicated variations in spatial architectures that could reflect their functional diversities. Wheat and rice were stably transformed with promoter-GUS fusion constructs and the spatial and temporal activ..
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Funding Acknowledgements
We thank M. Pallotta, N. Bazanova and A. Lapina for technical assistance with BAC DNA isolation and promoter cloning, J. Toubia for bioinformatics support, and Dr U. Langridge and R. Hosking for assistance with growing plants in the glasshouse. This work was supported by the Australian Research Council, the Grains Research and Development Corporation and the Government of South Australia.