Development of a tomato plant resistant to Clavibacter michiganensis using the endolysin gene of bacteriophage CMP1 as a transgene

The bacteriophage CMP1 endolysin gene (lys), encoding, a peptidase that was shown to effectively reduce Clavibacter michiganensis by specifically hydrolysing its murein, was transferred into tomato plants by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The presence of the gene was verified by PCR and the gene product was confirmed in immunoblots and stably expressed over three generations. Transgenic tomato plants did not show disease symptoms after infection with C.michiganensis subsp. michiganensis, despite the fact that small amounts of bacteria could still be identified in xylem sap and leaf extracts, although in significantly reduced amounts.