Pathogen-induced expression of a cecropin A-melittin antimicrobial peptide gene confers antifungal resistance in transgenic tobacco

Expression of defensive genes from a promoter that is specifically activated in response to pathogen invasion is highly desirable for engineering disease-resistant plants. A plant transformation vector was constructed with transcriptional fusion between the pathogen-responsive win3.12T promoter from poplar and the gene encoding the novel cecropin A-melittin hybrid peptide (CEMA) with strong antimicrobial activity. This promoter-transgene combination was evaluated in transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Xanthi) for enhanced plant resistance against a highly virulent pathogenic fungus Fusarium solani. Transgene expression in leaves was strongly increased after fungal infection or mechanical wounding, and the accumulation of CEMA transcripts was found to be systemic and positively correlated with the number of transgene insertions. A simple and efficient in vitro regeneration bioassay for preliminary screening of transgenic lines against pathogenic fungi was developed. CEMA had strong antifungal activity in vitro, inhibiting conidia germination at concentrations that were non-toxic to tobacco protoplasts. Most importantly, the expression level of the CEMA peptide in vivo, regulated by the win3.12T promoter, was sufficient to confer resistance against F. solani in transgenic tobacco. The antifungal resistance of plants with high CEMA expression was strong and reproducible. In addition, leaf tissue extracts from transgenic plants significantly reduced the number of fungal colonies arising from germinated conidia. Accumulation of CEMA peptide in transgenic tobacco had no deleterious effect on plant growth and development. This is the first report showing the application of a heterologous pathogen-inducible promoter to direct the expression of an antimicrobial peptide in plants, and the feasibility of this approach to provide disease resistance in tobacco and, possibly, other crops.