Myung-Ok Byun

Tolerance to Potato Soft Rot Disease in Transgenic Potato Expressing Soybean Ferritin Gene

Ferritin is ubiquitous in bacteria, animals and plants. Ferritin is thought to play two main roles in living cells to provide iron for the synthesis of iron protein such as ferretoxin and cytochromes and to prevent damage from radicals produced by iron/dioxygen interaction. To enhance the resistance of potato to Erwinia carotovora, the soybean ferritin gene was introduced into the potato either under CaMV 35S or hsr203J promoter. Potato transgenic plants were screened by PCR analysis using specific primers to the ferritin gene. Expression of ferritin gene under CaMV 35S and hsr203J promoter in potato transgenic plants was confirmed by northern blot analysis. hsr203J promoter known to pathogen inducible in tobacco drives the induction upon Phytophthora infestan in potato and the transcript level of ferritin gene was extremely high after 24 hours post inoculation. One of transformants under CaMV 35S promoter was increased 2.5 fold than untransformant. Each one of transgenic potato containing gene promoter CaMV 35S and hsr203J-ferrtin fusion exhibited tolerance against potato soft rot.