Increased Virus Resistance in Transgenic Petunia with Heterologous ZRNase II gene.

The production of transgenic petunia plants with heterologous ZRNase II gene and the evaluation of resistance to Tobacco mosaic virus in the resultant plants was the aim of our research. We have generated transgenic petunia plants with ZRNase gene via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The presence of ZRNase II gene was confirmed by PCR-analysis. Orcin method revealed that RNase activity in transgenic petunia expressing ZRNase II gene was 1.34-2.10 fold higher compared to wild-type plants. RNase activity varied among different transgenic lines. Both petunia varieties used for production of transgenic lines differed in their natural resistance to Tobacco mosaic virus.The symptoms of the viral infection in the transgenic plants of the susceptible variety inoculated with the virus were less severe. Indirect ELISA confirmed 3.3 -- 4.0 fold lower accumulation of viral antigenes in the infected transformed plants compared to the infected wild type ones. Application of ZRNase II gene in creation of transgenic petunia leads to the generation of plants tolerant to Tobacco mosaic virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]