P.50. Studies on transient expression of coat protein (CP) gene of Papaya ring spot virus (PRSV) towards developing transgenic resistance in papaya
Abstract
The viral disease caused by Papaya ring spot virus (PRSV) has become a serious threat to papaya cultivation worldwide. The coat protein (cp) gene from the local (Bangalore) isolate of the virus was cloned and sequenced. A plant expression cassette was developed and the plasmid construct was electroporated into the growing meristem of seedlings of papaya varieties Solo and CO-7. Studies on transient gene expression in detached leaves of papaya and tomato were carried out to validate the clone. The plasmid DNA (pAVCP-PRSV) was electroporated into leaf disks of papaya and tomato. Transient expression of PRSV-CP mRNA was studied at 1, 4, 8 and 16 hour intervals through RT-PCR followed by dot blot of the PCR product
