Antifungal activity of Lysinibacillus macroides against toxigenic Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium proliferatum and analysis of its mycotoxin minimization potential.

BACKGROUND: Toxigenic fungi (Aspergillus and Fusarium) and their metabolites represent the major cause of corn and corn-based products contamination and consequently lead to severe economic and health issues. AIM: Our current study aimed to investigate the efficacy of using L. macroides Bac6 as a biological control agent against the toxigenic fungi; A. flavus f10 and F. proliferatum f30 and their mycotoxins. RESULTS: The results illustrated that A. flavus f10 produced the aflatoxins AFB1 and AFG2 with concentrations of 21.239 and 13.593 ppb, respectively. While F. proliferatum f30 produced fumonisin B1 (9600 ppb). Furthermore, L. macroides showed a high potential for inhibition of toxigenic fungal growth using a dual culture method. F. proliferatum f30 and A. flavus f10 were found to be inhibited by a percentage of 80 and 62.5%, respectively. The results were confirmed using the scanning electron microscope. The antagonistic bacteria, L. macroides, showed chitinase productivity and activity of 26.45 U/L and 0.12 U/mL/min, respectively, which illustrates its potential application as a biocontrol agent. The GC-MS analysis revealed an abundance of Pyrrolo[1,2-a] pyrazine-1,4-dione, Hexahydro in the bacterial supernatant that exhibited antifungal characteristics. L. macroides had a significant reduction of AFB1 and AFG2 produced by A. flavus f10, recording 99.25% and 99% inhibition, respectively. It also showed strong inhibition of fumonisin B1 (90% inhibition) produced by F. proliferatum f30. CONCLUSION: Thus, the current study is a prospective study evaluating for the first time the potential impact of L. macroides Bac6 against the toxigenic fungi and their toxins.

Novel resources of chitinolytic bacteria isolated from Yok Don National Park, Vietnam.

AIMS: This study focused on the isolation and characterization of chitinolytic bacteria from Yok Don National Park, Vietnam for future studies regarding biofertilizers and biocontrol agents. METHODS AND RESULTS: Chitinolytic bacteria were isolated from soils and chitin flakes soaked in river water at the National Park. On the basis of the halo zones caused by colloidal chitin degradation and colony morphologies, 12 chitinolytic strains were chosen from 15 700 isolates for various examinations. Findings from 16S rDNA analysis indicated that among these strains, 10 could be identified as different species, and the remaining 2 showed less identity to known species and genera. The 12 bacteria possess numerous properties concerning plant growth promotion and/or phytopathogenic biocontrol. Paenibacillus chitinolyticus YSY-3.1, which exhibited the highest chitinase activity and remarkable properties for plant growth, was chosen for sequencing and draft genome analysis. The results showed that the genome is 6571 781 bp in length with 6194 coding sequences, 52.2% G + C, and 96.53% ANI value. It harbors the chitinolytic system comprising 22 enzymes. Among these enzymes, PcChiQ has a loop structure different from that of known family 19 chitinases, PcChiA contains two GH18 catalytic domains rarely found in microorganisms, and PcChiF contains three GH18 catalytic domains that have never been reported. CONCLUSIONS: The 12 identified chitinolytic bacteria exhibit great potential for further studies on plant growth-promoting and/or biocontrol properties. Among these bacteria, two strains might be good candidates for next examinations concerning novel species and/or genera, and strain YSY-3.1 could possess a novel chitinolytic system.

Assessment of beneficial fungal microorganism's bio-efficacy in stimulating morphological and physiological parameters of Allium cepa plants grown in soil amended with fish wastes.

BACKGROUND: The increase in the human consumption of fish results in the production of organic fish wastes (FW). For enhanced soil fertility and plant growth at a lower cost and without the negative impacts of chemical fertilizers, these wastes could be employed as a valuable organic fertilizer. To determine the synergistic bio-efficacy of Trichoderma sp. and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in stimulating the morphological and physiological characteristics of FW-fertilized Alium cepa, as well as to investigate their involvement in boosting soil fertility, the current study was carried out. Overall, eight treatments were applied as follows: AM, Trichoderma sp., AM + Trichoderma sp., FW, AM + FW, Trichoderma sp. + FW, AM + Trichoderma sp. + FW, and control. Growth and physiological assessments of onion plants were taken after 8 weeks from FW application. RESULTS: Our results showed that FW application combined with AM fungi and Trichoderma sp. inoculations increased aggregate stability of the soil (glomalin content) and soil chitinase activity. Moreover, using the bio-inoculations along with FW amendments significantly (p < 0.05) improved the photosynthetic pigments, protein, carbohydrates, and nutrients content of onion plants. It's interesting to note that the triple interaction of AM + Trichoderma sp. + FW led to the greatest increase in plant height, root length, number of leaves, and leaf area as well as total fresh and dry weights of shoots and roots. Besides, AM fungal colonization was at its highest percentage with Trichoderma sp. inoculation, although this percentage decreased with FW addition. CONCLUSION: We concluded that the combined treatments of AM fungi and Trichoderma sp. along with FW application to the soil can be proposed as a successful strategy for plant performance in nutrient-deficient soils as both fungal inoculants are capable of degrading these wastes and converting them into manure suitable for farming so plants can uptake the minerals effortlessly.

Serum chitinase activity prognosticates metastasis of colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate the value of chitinase activity in prognosticating the occurrence of metastasis in and prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). METHODS: The chitinase activity in four different groups, namely 335 CRC patients without distant metastasis at their first visit (Group 1), 51 patients with CRC having synchronous liver metastasis (Group 2), 100 healthy age-matched controls (Group 3) and 40 patients with liver cancer (Group 4), were assayed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The Cox proportional hazards ratio model and Kaplan-Meier curve were used to identify the association between chitinase activity and the clinical outcome of CRC patients without metastasis in the training set and testing set at their first visit. An in vitro Transwell experiment was performed to evaluate the migration of colon cancer cells. RESULTS: Patients with high chitinase activity had a significantly higher metastasis risk than those with low chitinase activity in the training and testing sets during follow-up, both at stage I/II and stage III. Further, multivariate analysis revealed that chitinase activity was an independent risk factor prognosticating liver metastases (P = 0.001). The combination of chitinase activity and lymph node metastasis status increased the accuracy of the prognosis of liver metastases after radical resection (P = 0.454E-011). In addition, chitinase promoted CRC cell migration in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: Chitinase activity can prognosticate the occurrence of metastasis in patients with CRC. Moreover, the combination of chitinase activity and N stage increased the power of prognosticating the occurrence of metastasis. Inhibiting chitinase activity may serve as a new strategy to treat metastases of CRC.

Association between sheath blight resistance and chitinase activity in transgenic rice plants expressing McCHIT1 from bitter melon.

No usable resources with high-level resistance to sheath blight (SB) have yet been found in rice germplasm resources worldwide. Therefore, creating and breeding new disease-resistant rice resources with sheath blight resistance (SBR) are imperative. In this study, we inoculated rice plants with hyphae of the highly pathogenic strain RH-9 of rice SB fungus Rhizoctonia solani to obtain eight stable transgenic rice lines harbouring the chitinase gene (McCHIT1) of bitter melon with good SBR in the T5 generation. The mean disease index for SB of wild-type plants was 92% and 37-44% in transgenic lines. From 24 h before until 120 h after inoculation with R. solani, chitinase activity in stable transgenic plants with increased SBR was 2.0-5.5 and 1.8-2.7 times that of wild-type plants and plants of a disease-susceptible stable transgenic line, respectively. The correlation between SBR and chitinase activity in McCHIT1-transgenic rice line plants was significant. This work stresses how McCHIT1 from bitter melon can be used to protect rice plants from SB infection.

Expression and characterization of a novel chitinase with antifungal activity from a rare actinomycete, Saccharothrix yanglingensis Hhs.015.

Saccharothrix yanglingensis Hhs.015, a new type of rare actinomycete, was isolated from the roots of cucumber. A novel chitinase gene was cloned from S. yanglingensis Hhs.015 and overexpressed as a soluble protein Chi6769 (77.9 kDa) in Escherichia coli. Chi6769 was purified by HisTrap HP affinity chromatography with optimal pH of 7.0. The enzymatic hydrolysis assay revealed that Chi6769 was capable of hydrolyzing chitin to (GlcNAc)3, (GlcNAc)2 and GlcNAc. (GlcNAc)2 was the main hydrolyzate. The antifungal activity result showed that Chi6769 exhibited strong antifungal activity toward Valsa mali 03-8. Overall, Chi6769 was potential to be a novel biofunctional chitinase that could be used as a biological agent in the control of plant diseases.

Racemic, R-, and S-tebuconazole altered chitinase and chitobiase activity of Daphnia magna.

Tebuconazole is a chiral trizole fungicide and widely used in many crops for controlling disease. Tebuconazole is potential toxic to some aquatic organisms but relative information of its isomers is scarce. To detect the endocrine disrupting effects and difference of rac-, R-, and S-tebuconazole, the chitinase activity in Daphnia magna and chitobiase activity in each test medium were used as biomonitors after a 14-day exposure. Results showed that chitinase activity was significantly reduced by rac-, R-, and S-tebuconazole. The chitobiase activity in the test medium was reduced by rac- and R-tebuconazole before day 10, and only one peak was observed at day 10 or day 12 compared with two obvious peaks in the control group (days 6 and 12). S-tebuconazole delayed and reduced the reproduction of D. magna, but did not delay the first chitobiase activity peak, whereas the second peak could not be characterized as the exposure concentration and time increased. Compared with chitinase activity, chitobiase activity can still be used as a rudimentary model for identifying molt-interfering xenobiotics, and further studies should focus on the analysis of correlations between these parameters.

Antifungal activity of chitinase obtained from Paenibacillus ehimensis MA2012 against conidial of Collectotrichum gloeosporioides in vitro.

To investigate the expression patterns of chitinase on SDS-PAGE gel, Paenibacillus ehimensis MA2012 was incubated in gelatin-chitin medium (GCM) at 30 °C for 7 days. Six major bands (Ch3, Ch4, Ch5, Ch6, Ch7, and Ch8) of chitinase isozymes in GC medium appeared on SDS-PAGE gel during the incubation period. Chitinase activity staining of P. ehimensis MA2012 was detected on 2-DE with different pI values (4-11). After DEAE-Sephadex chromatography, eight bands (Ch1 to Ch8) of chitinase isozymes were stained strongly with Calcofluor white M2R at fraction 45. After Sephadex G-75 gel filtration, six bands (Ch3 to Ch8) of chitinase isozymes were stained with Calcofluor white M2R at fractions of 11-12. The specific activity of the purified chitinase was 3.8 units mg(-1) protein with a purification factor of 0.27. Inhibition rate of the conidial germination of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides was 87% in partial purified chitinase treatment compared with control.

Expression patterns of chitinase and chitosanase produced from Bacillus cereus in suppression of phytopathogen.

Bacillus cereus MP-310 was incubated on various culture media substrates as LB, colloidal chitin, chitosan powder, and chitosan beads to investigate the concurrent expression patterns of chitinase and chitosanase isozymes by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Chitinase activity increased rapidly with a maximum level after 6 days of incubation in CM-chitin medium. Major bands of chitinase isozymes were strongly expressed on SDS-PAGE in LB medium (four bands) and in colloidal chitin medium (five bands) after 6 days after incubation, and in chitosan powder medium (one band) and in chitosan beads medium (five bands) after 12 days after incubation. A major band of chitosanase isozymes was strongly expressed on SDS-PAGE in chitosan powder medium (one band) and in chitosan beads medium (one band) after 12 days of incubation.

Fluorescence-Polarization-Based Assaying of Lysozyme with Chitooligosaccharide Tracers.

Lysozyme is a well-known enzyme found in many biological fluids which plays an important role in the antibacterial protection of humans and animals. Lysozyme assays are used for the diagnosis of a number of diseases and utilized in immunohistochemistry, genetic and cellular engineering studies. The assaying methods are divided into two categories measuring either the concentration of lysozyme as a protein or its activity as an enzyme. While the first category of methods traditionally uses an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the methods for the determination of the enzymatic activity of lysozyme use either live bacteria, which is rather inconvenient, or natural peptidoglycans of high heterogeneity and variability, which leads to the low reproducibility of the assay results. In this work, we propose the use of a chemically synthesized substrate of a strictly defined structure to measure in a single experiment both the concentration of lysozyme as a protein and its enzymatic activity by means of the fluorescence polarization (FP) method. Chito-oligosaccharides of different chain lengths were fluorescently labeled and tested leading to the selection of the pentasaccharide as the optimal size tracer and the further optimization of the assay conditions for the accurate (detection limit 0.3 µM) and rapid (<30 min) determination of human lysozyme. The proposed protocol was applied to assay human lysozyme in tear samples and resulted in good correlation with the reference assay. The use of synthetic fluorescently labeled tracer, in contrast to natural peptidoglycan, in FP analysis allows for the development of a reproducible method for the determination of lysozyme activity.

Chitinolytic and Fungicidal Potential of the Marine Bacterial Strains Habituating Pacific Ocean Regions.

Screening for chitinolytic activity in the bacterial strains from different Pacific Ocean regions revealed that the highly active representatives belong to the genera Microbulbifer, Vibrio, Aquimarina, and Pseudoalteromonas. The widely distributed chitinolytic species was Microbulbifer isolated from the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus intermedius. Among seventeen isolates with confirmed chitinolytic activity, only the type strain P. flavipulchra KMM 3630T and the strains of putatively new species Pseudoalteromonas sp. B530 and Vibrio sp. Sgm 5, isolated from sea water (Vietnam mollusc farm) and the sea urchin S. intermedius (Peter the Great Gulf, the Sea of Japan), significantly suppressed the hyphal growth of Aspergillus niger that is perspective for the biocontrol agents' development. The results on chitinolytic activities and whole-genome sequencing of the strains under study, including agarolytic type strain Z. galactanivorans DjiT, found the new functionally active chitinase structures and biotechnological potential.

Apple Endophytic fungi and their antagonism against apple scab disease.

Endophytic fungi are microorganisms with the ability to colonize plants for the entire or at least a significant part of their life cycle asymptomatically, establishing a plant-fungus association. They play an important role in balancing ecosystems, as well as benefiting host through increasing plant growth, and protecting the host plants from abiotic and biotic stresses using various strategies. In the present study, endophytic fungi were isolated from wild and endemic apple cultivars, followed by characterizing their antifungal effect against Venturia inaequalis. To characterize the endophytic fungi, 417 fungal strains were separated from 210 healthy fruit, leaf, and branch samples collected from the north of Iran. Among the purified fungal isolates, 33 fungal genera were identified based on the morphological characteristics, of which 38 species were detected according to the morphological features and molecular data of ITS, tef-1α, and gapdh genomic regions (related to the genus). The results represented that most of the endophytic fungi belonged to Ascomycota (67.8%), 31.4% of isolates were mycelia sterilia, while the others were Basidiomycota (0.48%) and Mucoromycota (0.24%). Additionally, Alternaria, Cladosporium, and Nigrospora were determined as the dominant genera. The antifungal properties of the identified isolates were evaluated against V. inaequalis in vitro to determine the release of media-permeable metabolites, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), chitinase, and cellulase as antifungal mechanisms, as well as producing phosphate solubilisation as growth-promoting effect. Based on the results of metabolite and VOC tests, the six isolates of Acremonium sclerotigenum GO13S1, Coniochaeta endophytica 55S2, Fusarium lateritium 61S2, Aureobasidium microstictum 7F2, Chaetomium globosum 2S1 and Ch. globosum 3 L2 were selected for greenhouse tests. Further, Co. endophytica 55S2 and F. lateritium 61S2 could solubilize inorganic phosphate. All isolates except Ch. globosum 3 L2 exhibited cellulase activity, while chitinase activity was observed in Ch. globosum 2S1, Ch. globosum 3 L2, and F. lateritium 61S2. Finally, Co. endophytica 55S2 and Ch. globosum 2S1 completely controlled the disease on the apple seedling leaves under greenhouse conditions.

Improvement in the in vitro Digestibility of Shrimp Meal by the Addition of Persimmon Peel.

The present study was conducted to analyze the chemical properties of persimmon peel (PP) and the in vitro digestibility of shrimp meal (SM) diets containing PP. Discussions whether PP can be used as a feed additive to promote digestion of SM in chickens are also included. The chemical composition and chitinase activity of dried PP was studied. SM diets containing PP were formulated according to the 4 by 6 factorial design: 4 levels of SM (0%, 10%, 15%, and 20%) × 6 levels of PP (0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10%). The in vitro digestibility of dry matter (IVDMD), crude protein (IVCPD), and chitin (IVCD) was also studied. PP was rich in nitrogen-free extract (NFE, about 74%) and tannin (2.8%), and the highest chitinase activity of PP was observed at pH 4.5. Approximately 50% of chitinase activity was also observed at acidic (3.0) and alkaline (8.0) pH. Its activity was slightly affected by pepsin treatment. IVDMD increased upon addition of up to 8% PP, but decreased with an increase in the level of SM. When PP level was increased up to 6%, IVCPD in the group containing 0% SM, changed slightly; however, an increasing trend was observed in the other groups. When PP level was more than 6%, IVCPD decreased in all the groups. IVCD increased dose-dependently with increasing level of PP and decreased with increasing level of SM. In conclusion, PP was rich in NFE, had high chitinase activity, and improved all digestibility parameters, such as IVDMD, IVCPD, and IVCD, in SM diets where the PP level was under 6%. Thus, up to 6% of PP can be safely included in SM diets as a digestion promoter.

Genetic diversity of Beauveria bassiana in semi natural and agricultural habitats and its biocontrol potential against cowpea aphid, Aphis craccivora Koch.

Information on the biology and ecology of Beauveria bassiana in different habitats could provide essential knowledge in their development as biocontrol agents of insect pests. In this study, phylogenetic and genotypic information was used to evaluate the genetic diversity of B. bassiana within semi natural and agricultural habitats in Karnataka State of South India and assessed their extracellular chitinase activity and pathogenicity against cowpea aphid, Aphis craccivora. Multilocus phylogeny and microsatellite genotyping of B. bassiana conjointly resolved three phylogenetic species, Bb_1, Bb_2, and Bb_3, in semi natural and agricultural habitats. None of the three phylogenetic species of B. bassiana were associated with crop plants in agroecosystem or insect hosts in semi natural habitat. All the three phylogenetic species were detected with four genotypes each. All isolates of B. bassiana were pathogenic to A. craccivora in greenhouse bioassays. Isolate GKVK 01_13 caused a significantly high mortality of aphids and detected with an increased level of chitinase activity. The study results suggest that application of indigenous virulent strain of B. bassiana could provide effective control of native insect pest A. craccivora.

Chitinase genes from Metarhizium anisopliae for the control of whitefly in cotton.

Entomopathogenic fungi produces endochitianses, involved in the degradation of insect chitin to facilitate the infection process. Endochitinases (Chit1) gene of family 18 glycosyl hydrolyses were amplified, cloned and characterized from genomic DNA of two isolates of Metarhizium anisopliae. Catalytic motif of family 18 glycosyl hydrolyses was found in Chit1 of M. anisopliae, while no signal peptide was found in any isolate, whereas substrate-binding motif was found in Chit1 of both isolates. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the evolutionary relationship among the fungal chitinases of Metarhizium. The Chit1 amplified were closely related to the family 18 glycosyl hydrolyses. Transient expressions of Chit1 in cotton plants using Geminivirus-mediated gene silencing vector of Cotton Leaf Crumple Virus (CLCrV) revealed the chitinase activity of Chit1 genes amplified from both of the isolates of M. anisopliae when compared with the control. Transformed cotton plants were virulent against fourth instar nymphal and adult stages of Bemisia tabaci which resulted in the mortality of both fourth instar nymphal and adult B. tabaci. Thus, the fungal chitinases expressed in cotton plants played a vital role in plant defence against B. tabaci. However, further studies are required to explore the comparative effectiveness of chitinases from different fungal strains against economically important insect pests.

Fusarium graminearum growth inhibition due to glucose starvation caused by osthol.

The effects of osthol, a plant coumarin, on morphology, sugar uptake and cell wall components of Fusarium graminearum were examined in vitro by electron microscopy,(14)C-labelling and enzyme activity detection. The results revealed that osthol could inhibit the hypha growth of F. graminearum by decreasing hyphal absorption to reducing sugar. After treatment with 100 microg.mL(-1) osthol for 24 h, many hyphal fragments of F. graminearum appeared. Microscopy observation showed that the cell walls of hyphal fragments blurred and the organelles of the cells degraded with the increasing vacuoles. The N-acetyl-D-glucosamine contents and chitinase activity both increased when hypha were treated with 100 microg.mL(-1) osthol, whereas the activity of beta-1,6-glucanase remained unchanged. When F. graminearum fed with (14)C glucose was treated with 100 microg.mL(-1)osthol, glucose contents decreased to the lowest level, while the contents in non-osthol treated controls remained unchanged. These results suggested that chitinase activity might be related to glucose starvation under osthol treatment, and that the appearance of hyphae fragments maybe the results of the promoted chitinase activity which itself triggered chitin degradation.

Molecular cloning of chitinase 33 (chit33) gene from Trichoderma atroviride.

In this study Trichoderma atroviride was selected as over producer of chitinase enzyme among 30 different isolates of Trichoderma sp. on the basis of chitinase specific activity. From this isolate the genomic and cDNA clones encoding chit33 have been isolated and sequenced. Comparison of genomic and cDNA sequences for defining gene structure indicates that this gene contains three short introns and also an open reading frame coding for a protein of 321 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence includes a 19 aa putative signal peptide. Homology between this sequence and other reported Trichoderma Chit33 proteins are discussed. The coding sequence of chit33 gene was cloned in pEt26b(+) expression vector and expressed in E. coli.

Expression and degradation patterns of chitinase purified from Xuehuali (Pyrus bretschneiderilia) pollen.

The present study investigated the expression pattern of chitinase in Xuehuali (Pyrus bretschneiderilia) pollen, as well as its subsequent degradation. The chitinase was purified and collected using chitin affinity column chromatography with regenerated chitin. After purification, four additional chitinase isozymes (chiA, chiB, chiC, and chiD) and chitinase (Chi II) were clearly expressed on SDS-PAGE gels that contained 0.01% glycol chitin. The chitinase reaction products were examined using GlcNAc, (GlcNAc)2, (GlcNAc)3, (GlcNAc)4, (GlcNAc)5, and (GlcNAc)6 as substrates at 2 and 24h after reaction via TLC and HPLC. The (GlcNAc)4 oligosaccharide was slightly degraded to (GlcNAc)2 after 24h of reaction with Xuehuali pollen chitinase on TLC. Meanwhile, (GlcNAc)5 was degraded to (GlcNAc)2-4, and 2300ppm (GlcNAc)6 was degraded to 246ppm (GlcNAc)2, 208ppm (GlcNAc)3, 572ppm (GlcNAc)4, and 336ppm (GlcNAc)5 on HPLC. With regard to temperature, the strongest Xuehuali pollen chitinase activity (0.69 unit/mL) was observed at 37°C after 3h of incubation, and with regard to pH, the strongest activity (0.72unit/mL) was observed at pH 3 after 3h of incubation. The main chitin oligomers degraded from (GlcNAc)6 were (GlcNAc)2 and (GlcNAc)4.

Antifungal activity of chitinase II against Colletotrichum falcatum Went. causing red rot disease in transgenic sugarcane.

We evaluated transgenic lines of sugarcane modified with the barley chitinase class-II gene to create resistance against the red rot causative agent Colletotrichum falcatum Went. Local sugarcane cultivar SP93 was transformed with a 690-bp coding sequence of the chitinase-II gene under the influence of a polyubiquitin promoter. Transgenic sugarcane lines (T 0) overexpressing the chitinase gene were obtained through a particle bombardment method with 13.3% transformation efficiency. Four transgenic sugarcane lines, SCT-03, SCT-05, SCT-15, and SCT-20, were tested for resistance against red rot by in vitro antifungal assays. Crude protein extracts from transgenic sugarcane plants SCT-03, SCT-05, SCT-15, and SCT-20 inhibited the mycelial growth of C. falcatum by 49%, 40%, 56%, and 52%, respectively, in a quantitative in vitro assay. Our findings revealed that two transgenic lines, SCT-15 and SCT-20, exhibited the highest endochitinase activity of 0.72 and 0.58 U/mL, respectively. Furthermore, transgenic lines SCT-15 and SCT-20 exhibited strong resistance against inoculated C. falcatum in an in vitro bioassay, as they remained healthy and green in comparison with the control sugarcane plants, which turned yellow and eventually died 3 weeks after infection. The mRNA expression of the transgene in the C. falcatum-inoculated transgenic sugarcane lines increased gradually compared to the control plant. The mRNA expression was the highest at 72 h in both transgenic lines and remained almost stable in the subsequent hours.

Developing transgenic wheat to encounter rusts and powdery mildew by overexpressing barley chi26 gene for fungal resistance.

BACKGROUND: The main aim of this study was to improve fungal resistance in bread wheat via transgenesis. Transgenic wheat plants harboring barley chitinase (chi26) gene, driven by maize ubi promoter, were obtained using biolistic bombardment, whereas the herbicide resistance gene, bar, driven by the CaMV 35S promoter was used as a selectable marker. RESULTS: Molecular analysis confirmed the integration, copy number, and the level of expression of the chi26 gene in four independent transgenic events. Chitinase enzyme activity was detected using a standard enzymatic assay. The expression levels of chi26 gene in the different transgenic lines, compared to their respective controls, were determined using qRT-PCR. The transgene was silenced in some transgenic families across generations. Gene silencing in the present study seemed to be random and irreversible. The homozygous transgenic plants of T4, T5, T6, T8, and T9 generations were tested in the field for five growing seasons to evaluate their resistance against rusts and powdery mildew. The results indicated high chitinase activity at T0 and high transgene expression levels in few transgenic families. This resulted in high resistance against wheat rusts and powdery mildew under field conditions. It was indicated by proximate and chemical analyses that one of the transgenic families and the non-transgenic line were substantially equivalent. CONCLUSION: Transgenic wheat with barley chi26 was found to be resistant even after five generations under artificial fungal infection conditions. One transgenic line was proved to be substantially equivalent as compared to the non-transgenic control.