Journal of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology
  • Year: 2001
  • Volume: 10
  • Issue: 1

Introduction and Expression of Cowpea Trypsin Inhibitor (CpTI) Gene in Transgenic Tobacco†

  • Author:
  • Durba Ghoshal1,2,, S K Sen1, Arun Goyal2
  • Total Page Count: 6
  • Page Number: 19 to 24

1Plant Molecular and Cellular Genetics, Bose Institute, Calcutta, India

2Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Department of Biology, and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812, USA

*Corresponding author. E-mail: dghoshal@d.umn.edu Present Address (SKS): Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India

† The nucleotide sequence data has been submitted in the GenBank nucleotide sequence database under the accession number AF327406.

Abstract

A trypsin/chymotrypsin inhibitor (CpTI) was purified from mature cowpea seeds. A full length cDNA clone encoding the trypsin/chymotrypsin inhibitor protein was isolated from a cDNA library that was constructed using poly(A*) RNA from developing seeds. Tobacco protoplasts were transformed with a construct composed of CaMV 35S promoter, NPTII gene, CpTI gene, and NOS terminator, using polyethylene glycol (PEG)-mediated direct gene transfer. The CpTI gene has been integrated into the plant genome, and the expressed CpTI protein from transgenic plants was catalytically active.

Keywords

cowpea, CpTI, insect resistance, trypsin inhibitor, transgenic plants.