Plant Pathology (2010) 59, 922-930

Y.-L. Chan, D. Cai, P.W.J. Taylor, M.-T. Chan and K.W. Yeh (2010)
Adverse effect of the chitinolytic enzyme PjCHI-1 in transgenic tomato on egg mass production and embryonic development of Meloidogyne incognita
Plant Pathology 59 (5), 922-930
Abstract: A novel chitinase gene (PjCHI-1) isolated from Paecilomyces javanicus, a non-nematophagous fungus, and driven by a CaMV35S promoter, was delivered into CLN2468D, a heat-tolerant cultivar of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). T₁ tomato plants exhibited high endochitinase activity and reduced numbers of eggs and egg masses when infected with the root-knot nematode (RKN) Meloidogyne incognita. The eggs found in transgenic tomato had lower shell chitin contents than eggs collected from control plants. Egg masses from transgenic plants exhibited higher chitinase activity than those from control plants. Moreover, only 30% of eggs from transgenic plants were able to develop to the multi-cell/J1 stage, compared with more than 96% from control plants. The present study demonstrated that the expression of the PjCHI-1 chitinase gene can effectively reduce the production of egg masses and repress the embryonic development of M. incognita, presenting the possibility of a novel agro-biotechnological strategy for preventing crop damage by RKN.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Paul W.J. Taylor

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
resistance/tolerance/defence of host

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Meloidogyne incognita	Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)