VARIABILITY IN THE RESPONSE TO PSEUDOMONAS-SOLANACEARUM OF TRANSGENICLINES OF POTATO CARRYING A CECROPIN GENE ANALOG

Transgenic potato plants of cv, Desiree carrying an antibacterial gene , coding for a cecropin lytic peptide analogue, were inoculated with a virulent strain of Pseudomonas solanacearum under controlled conditio ns. The disease index scored during three repeated infection trials in dicated an increased variability in plant response among the transgeni c lines which gave either a more susceptible or a more resistant respo nse to the pathogen when compared with untransformed Desiree. Immunity to P. solanacearum was not observed, but it was possible to select a group of transgenic lines that showed resistance levels and disease de velopment curves comparable to the field resistant cv. Cruza 148.