Sorghum Transformation and Expressions of Genes Related to Plant Defense

Abstract

This study was attempted to develop transgenic sorghum plants and to analyze expression of thaumatin-like (TLP) gene in sorghum plants in response to greenbug feeding. Many molecular genetics techniques used in the study included extraction of plasmid DNA, PCR, RT-PCR, real-time PCR, southern blot, RNA isolation, reverse transcription and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Findings and Conclusions: Putatively transformed plants have been produced although they need to be confirmed. One of them was transformed with an antifungal gene, and the other was done with an antimicrobial gene. In addition, the other two lines were transformed with plasmids containing phloem-specific promoters. All of the putatively transformed plants should contain the GUS gene. Further experiments are needed to confirm that they are transgenic plants containing the genes of interest. In addition, the expression of the TLP gene in three different sorghum lines infested with greenbugs was analyzed using the real-time PCR method. The results indicated that the TLP expression was elevated in those plants in response to greenbug infestation, which may play a role in plant defense against the greenbug pest.