Jubilee Purkayastha

Transgenic cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) seeds expressing a bean α-amylase inhibitor 1 confer resistance to storage pests, bruchid beetles

Cowpea is one of the important grain legumes. Storage pests, Callosobruchus maculatus and C. chinensis cause severe damage to the cowpea seeds during storage. We employ a highly efficient Agrobacterium-mediated cowpea transformation method for introduction of the bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) α-amylase inhibitor-1 (αAI-1) gene into a commercially important Indian cowpea cultivar, Pusa Komal and generated fertile transgenic plants. The use of constitutive expression of additional vir genes in resident pSB1 vector in Agrobacterium strain LBA4404, thiol compounds during cocultivation and a geneticin based selection system resulted in twofold increase in stable transformation frequency. Expression of αAI-1 gene under bean phytohemagglutinin promoter results in accumulation of αAI-1 in transgenic seeds. The transgenic protein was active as an inhibitor of porcine α-amylase in vitro. Transgenic cowpeas expressing αAI-1 strongly inhibited the development of C. maculatus and C. chinensis in insect bioassays.

High Frequency β-glucuronidase Reporter Gene Expression in Shoot Tip, Leaf, and Hypocotyl Explants of Jatropha curcas L.

Development of a suitable genetic transformation system is the backbone of transgenic technology for efficient recovery of Jatropha curcas plants with desirable traits. Although in vitro plant regeneration protocols for shoot tip, leaf, and hypocotyl explants of J. curcas have been reported, these protocol have not been translated into efficient genetic transformation systems. The objective of this study was to standardize the parameters influencing transient β-glucuronidase reporter gene expression following Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation using shoot tip, leaf, and hypocotyl explants of Jatropha curcas. Disarmed Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain EHA105, harboring pCAMBIA2301 carrying neomycin phosphotransferase (nptII) as a selectable marker and the β-glucuronidase (GUS) as a reporter gene, were used for transformation. Frequencies of GUS gene expression of 86.7%, 78.3%, and 74.2% were obtained for leaf, hypocotyls, and shoot tip explants, respectively. The transgenic nature of the kanamycin-resistant explants was also confirmed by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. Because, to date, there is no report on Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of shoot tip, leaf, and hypocotyl explants of Jatropha curcas, our findings/protocol should be useful for recovering stable transgenic Jatropha curcas plants from these explants.

Sustainable and Novel Eco-friendly Approaches Towards Integrated Disease and Vector Management

Herbal medicine has been used since time immemorial for treating a large number of human ailments. Despite the widespread use of western system of medicine, in recent years, most people even in the western world resort to herbal medicines as holistic, inexpensive treatments allude the common man. In addition, western medicine does not offer solutions to chronic incurable diseases and other such problems that confront humanity. Most patients undergoing cancer therapy or treatment for AIDS, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. use herbal medicines in the hope of a cure irrespective of the recommendation by the physician. Many pesticides are known to create significant health risks like birth defects, nervous system breakdown and cancer. The only way out is the use of herbal biomedicines and herbal pesticides.