POTATO TRANSFORMATION FOR CONFERRING DISEASE RESISTANCE

Over the last 5 years rapid advantages have been made both in terms of transformation technology, using both Agrobacterium rhizogenes and Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Also new methods have been found for foreign gene introduction. Coupled to this rapid advance has been the availability of a wide range of genes that can be introduced. Among the genes that are currently available are genes to confer resistance to viruses, bacteria, fungi and insects. These genes are of various degrees of effectiveness and much depends on the type of promotors used in conjunction with the gene. CIP (The International Potato Center) has developed a network of collaborating institutions that work on varying aspects of these pest and disease resistances. In this presentation data is given on the analysis of various transformations for bacterial disease resistance. The genes used to confer this bacterial resistance code for lytic proteins and are isolated from silk moths. Discussions will be oriented towards the advantages and disadvantages of this type of approach over conventional breeding