Obteining of lettuce and strawberry transgenic plants carrying sweet-taste protein thaumatin II

Abstract

Aim. According to the published data protein thaumatin II of Thaumatococcus daniellii is capable to induced sweet taste and antifungal resistant phenotype. A possible application of thaumatin II properties is to produce transgenic disease resistant crop plants with modified fruit taste. Methods. Transgenic plants were obtained via Agrobacterium mediated transformation method. Presence of the target and selective genes was confirmed by PCR analysis. Antifungal activity of the extracts from green-house grown lettuce plants was tested. Results. We report here the development of transgenic lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) plants with thaumatin II gene under control of CaMV 35S promoter. Conclusion. The leaf extract from transgenic lettuce plants carrying thaumatin II gene had no inhibiting effect on mycelium growth in vitro of the plant pathogenic fungus Fusarium solani (Mart.) Sacc.

Key words: thaumatin II, Lactuca sativa, Fragaria x ananassa, transgenic plants.