Cloning and Expression of a Chitinase Gene from Serratia marcescens Strain C8-8

A 1 692 bp long chitinase-encoding ch/A gene was cloned from the genomic DNA of Serrat/a marcescens strain C8-8 by PCR, which was speculated to en- code a 563 aa long polypeptide chain with molecular weight of about 60.9 kD. Homolog analysis showed that the chiA gene sequence cloned from C8-8 shared the highest similarity with cMA sequences from Serrat/a maresscens strains 141 （ DQ 990373.1 ） and 14041 （ DQ 493896. 1 ）, which reached 99%. Domain analysis showed that N-termlnal （23 aa） of the chiA gene cloned from C8-8 harbored typical signal peptide sequence, while C-telminal harbored the other two domains, in- eluding the PKD region （73 aa） and chitinase catalytic region （387 aa）. The PCR fragment was digested with restriction endonucleases and cloned into plasmid pET28a. The recombinant plasmid pET＇28a-ch/A was firstly transformed into Escherichia coli DI-I5 , and then transformed into expression host E. coli DH3 to express ch/A gene. The recombinant strain DH3 chiA could produce transparent hydrolysis circles on the colloidal chitin plate induced by isopropyl-l-thiogalactopyranoside （IFrG）. SDS-PAGE electrophoresis analysis showed that, a protein with relative molecular weight of about 60 kD was expressed by the recombinant strain DH3 chiA, which was consistent with the except molecular weight. After initial purification, biological activity test showed that the recombinant expression product could hydrolyze chitin, which produced transparent hydrolysis circles on the colloidal chitin plates. Results indicated that chiA gene from Serrat/a marcescens strain C8-8 had biological functions and could be utilized as a potential biological control factor.

Characteristics of Resistance to Rice Sheath Blight of Zhongda 2,a Transgenic Rice Line as Modified by Gene “RC24”

The transgenic rice, Zhongda 2, which was genetically modified from an indica rice line Zhuxian B by rice chitinase gene (RC24), had high resistance to rice sheath blight (Rhizoctonia solan!) in laboratory and a two-year field experiment. The pathogen could invade sheath of Zhongda 2 and induce symptoms of the disease. No difference was noted in time of penetration or incubation period between Zhongda 2 and non-transgenic rice control, Zhuxian B, but the hyphae lysate could be observed earlier than control. Its resistance expressed as to inhibit the growth of mycelium in host tissue. Fis from Zhongda 2(4) crossed with other five non-transgenic rice lines showed higher resistance than donor non-transgenic parents, but the resistance was different along with the different maternal parents.

Resistance identification of bivalent fungi-resistant genes transformed soybean to Phytophthora sojae

Soybean is one of the most important sources of edible oil and proteins in the world. However, it suffers from many kinds of fungal diseases which is a major limiting factor in soybean production. The fungal disease can be effectively controlled by breeding plant cultivars with genetic transformation. In this study, the resistance to Phytophthora sojae of five bivalent transgenic soybean lines was identified using the hypocotyls inoculation technique. The lines were the T2 of the transgenic soybean which were transformed with kidney bean chitinase gene and barley ribosome inactivating protein gene, and were positive by Southern Blot analysis. The resistance difference was studied through comparing the death percentage of transgenic soybean with the control. The results showed that four lines were more resistant to P sojae, whereas other one had no significant difference in comparison with the control. These transgenic soybean lines with enhanced resistance to P sojae will be useful in soybean resistance breeding.