Phytopathogen resistance improvement of horticultural crops by plant-defensin gene introduction

For the horticultural plants protection against fungal and microbial attack the plant defensins genes (PD) have been transferred to pear, apple and carrot. They are recently characterized as small (near 50 amino acids long) Cyst-rich antimicrobial peptides that have a complex cysteine-stabilized three-dimensional folding pattern often involving antiparallel beta-sheets. Based on previously developed transformation methods the PD gene from Rafanus sativus was transferred to clonal apple rootstock N545 pear variety“Burakovka” and carrot by agrobacterial mediated transformation. Obtained plant lines - 27 apple, 12 pear and 270 carrot successfully rooted on high antibiotic media and some of them demonstrated high NPT activity in greenhouse growing plants. PD gene introduction in their genoms has been confirmed by PCR analysis. Western blot analysis showed PD gene expression in 5 apple lines from 20 tested, one pear from 12 tested and 18 carrot from 20 tested.