Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Lycopersicon esculentum (cv. MicroTom) with two pathogen-induced hot pepper transcription factors

Two pathogen-induced hot pepper transcription factors (CaNACl and CapIfl) were introduced into‘MicroTom’tomato by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. We used to nptII containing kanamycin resistance gene as a selection marker. Both transformed and non-transformed plants were transferred to pot after rooting test in vitro. To approximate the levels of caNACl transcript in leaves of wild-type and transgenic plants, RNA blots were hybridized with double-stranded full-length CaNACl probe at moderate stringency, Although the relative signal strength for hybridization fluctuated among the samples on different blots, transgenic plant lines N-1, N-2 and N-3 consistently displayed increased levels of CaNACl transcript relative to other transgenic lines and wild-type plants. Of all the transgenic lines examined, line N-7 had the least amount of CaNACl transcript. Role of these transcription factors in pathogen defense will be examined by overexpression in tomato.