Division of Nematology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012, India.
Part of the thesis submitted by the senior author for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Nematology at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India.
Ribonucleases from tomato cultivars ‘pusa Ruby’ and ‘SL-120’, susceptible and resistant respectively to the root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita, were purified to homogeneity. The tomato R Nase was seen to possess high thermal stability and a pH optimum at 5.7. The susceptible cultivar retained the whole activity at higher temperatures compared to the resistant one. The results are discussed in the light of the role of this enzyme in the biochemical mechanism of resistance of plants to phyto-parasitic nematodes.
