Evaluation of transgenic Hamlin orange resistance for overexpression of the transcription factor WRKY70, to infection by Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri in detached leaves

• Grant number: 17/11119-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2017
• End date: July 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: Valdenice Moreira Novelli
• Grantee: Sara Stefani Domingos
• Host Institution: Instituto Agronômico (IAC). Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios (APTA). Secretaria de Agricultura e Abastecimento (São Paulo - Estado). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Transgenic research to control citrus diseases and pests has been increasing. This is because many diseases do not have efficient forms of control and the improvement of citrus by the conventional method, besides difficult by intrinsic characteristics to the culture. There are several diseases of importance for citrus cultivation, and citrus canker is one of them, and its occurrence has increased significantly in recent years. Caused by Xanthomonas citri subsp. Citri (Xcc), a hemibiotrophic pathogen, which activates the salicylic acid pathway for defense, in an attempt to control the disease. Many studies show that the overexpression of genes of the salicylic acid pathway allows in some cases the control of this type of pathogen. The WRKY70 transcription factor is a gene that acts on crosstalking between the salicylic acid route and the jasmonic acid pathway and may increase the resistance of plants to biotrophic and hemibiotrophic pathogens. With this project, we aim to evaluate citrus canker resistance of Hamlin orange plants transformed to overexpress the WRKY70 gene, by the method of inoculation in highlighted leaves, using Xcc that expresses GFP (AU)