Abstract
In the common chickweed Stellaria media, two antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), SmAMP1.1a and SmAMP1.2a, have been shown to be proteolytically released as products of the expression of a single gene, proSmAMP1. In this study, the gene proSmAMP1 was introduced into two potato varieties, Zhukovsky ranny and Udacha. These early-maturing varieties were shown to be susceptible to early blight caused by Alternaria spp. Most transgenic lines of either variety having strong expression of the target gene demonstrated high levels of resistance to Alternaria spp. during three years of cultivation, but did not otherwise differ from the initial varieties. Disease severity index (DSI) was introduced as a complex measure of plant susceptibility to early blight, taking into account the diameter of lesions caused by the Alternaria spp., the fungus sporulation intensity and its incubation period duration. Across all transgenic lines, the DSI inversely correlated both with the target gene expression and the copy number in the plant genome. Our results are promising for improving the resistance of potato and other crops to early blight by expression of AMPs from wild plants.
Highlights
IntroductionBlight is a worldwide-spread plant disease causing harm to potato, tomato and other cultivated Solanum species
The hevein-like antimicrobial peptides SmAMP1.1a and SmAMP1.2a were purified from S.media and tested for their activities against Alternaria alternata
We believe that our studies can promote the application ofplant antimicrobial peptides from wild plants to make them effective inside cultivated plants
Summary
Blight is a worldwide-spread plant disease causing harm to potato, tomato and other cultivated Solanum species. As early as in the 19th century, the disease was shown to be caused by fungi of Alternaria spp., with A. solani and A. alternata being the most aggressive to Solanum tuberosum[1]. The fungi predominantly infect older tissues, and the disease symptoms start to appear at the lower leaves [2]. Hot and dry climate areas with alternating dry and rainy seasons are especially prone to early blight epiphytotics [3]. In such areas, potato yield losses averaged 29% and without crop protection, the losses reached
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