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Engineered detoxification confers resistance against a pathogenic bacterium

Nature Biotechnology volume 17, pages 1021–1024 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

We generated transgenic sugarcane plants that express an albicidin detoxifying gene (albD), which was cloned from a bacterium that provides biocontrol against leaf scald disease. Plants with albicidin detoxification capacity equivalent to 1–10 ng of AlbD enzyme per mg of leaf protein did not develop chlorotic disease symptoms in inoculated leaves, whereas all untransformed control plants developed severe symptoms. Transgenic lines with high AlbD activity in young stems were also protected against systemic multiplication of the pathogen, which is the precursor to economic disease. We have shown that genetic modification to express a toxin-resistance gene can confer resistance to both disease symptoms and multiplication of a toxigenic pathogen in its host.

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Figure 1
Figure 2: Relationship between albD mRNA levels and AlbD enzyme activity in young leaves of sugarcane cultivar Q63 and 24 independent transgenic lines grown under containment greenhouse conditions.
Figure 3: Relationship between albicidin detoxifying activity from expression of the albD transgene, and disease severity in leaves inoculated with X. albilineans.
Figure 4: Relationship between albicidin detoxifying activity from expression of the albD transgene, and multiplication of the pathogen X.albilineans in inoculated plants of sugarcane cultivar Q63.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Queensland Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations for assistance with sugarcane. This work was supported by the Australian Research Council and the Sugar Research and Development Corporation.

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  1. Lianhui Zhang & Jingling Xu

    Present address: Institute for Molecular Agrobiology, The University of Singapore, 117604, Singapore

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia

    Lianhui Zhang, Jingling Xu & Robert G. Birch

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  1. Lianhui Zhang
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Correspondence to Robert G. Birch.

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Zhang, L., Xu, J. & Birch, R. Engineered detoxification confers resistance against a pathogenic bacterium . Nat Biotechnol 17, 1021–1024 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/13721

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