Resistance against beet armyworms and cotton aphids in caffeine-producing transgenic chrysanthemum

• Transgenic chrysanthemum plants were constructed to simultaneously express three N-methyltransferases involved in caffeine biosynthetic pathways. Resulting plants produced caffeine at approximately 3 mu g g(-1) fresh tissue, and were tested for herbivore repellence. When starved second-instar caterpillars of beet armyworms (Spodoptera exigu) were allowed to feed, they ate up to 4.4 mm(2) of leaf discs from the wild type plants, while less than 1.5 mm(2) of those from the transgenic plants. When third-instars of cotton aphid (Aphis gossypii) were subjected to a choice-test, 27 gathered on wild type leaves, and 6 on transgenic leaves. These results indicate that caffeine-producing chrysanthemum is resistant against herbivores, lepidoptera caterpillars and aphids, both being one of the most serious pests in agriculture. We propose that the method can be practically applied to a variety of important plant species to confer resistance against biotic stresses.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Botanik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Botany (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Mikrobiologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Microbiology (hsv//eng)

LANTBRUKSVETENSKAPER  -- Bioteknologi med applikationer på växter och djur (hsv//swe)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES  -- Agricultural Biotechnology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Aphis gossypii

caffeine

chemical defense

chrysanthemum

Spodoptera exigu

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)