Engineering Genetic Resistance against Root-Knot Nematode, Meloidogyne incognita in Tomato using a Antifungal Rice Chitinase Gene (chi 11)

A rice chitinase gene (chi11) isolated from Oryza sativa was introduced into tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) through Agrobacterium mediated transformation, using ubiquitin promoter. Transgenic plants demonstrated a high level of constitutive expression of pchi11. Kanamycin resistant T1 plants (resulting from self-pollination of transgenic plants) were evaluated for their resistance against Meloidogyne incognita in greenhouse conditions. They demonstrated a significantly higher level of resistance to M. incognita compared to the non-transgenic control plants, as measured by root-knot index. The transgenic plants produced in this study were the first report of an antifungal rice chitinase gene (chi11) also conferring resistance against root-knot nematode, M. incognita.