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The Development of Virus-Resistant Alfalfa, Medicago sativa L

Bio/Technology volume 9, pages 373–377 (1991)Cite this article

Abstract

We have generated more than 100 transgenic alfalfa plants, via Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer, from genotypes se-lected from five alfalfa cultivars. These plants express the genes for kanamycin resistance and for the coat protein of al-falfa mosaic virus (AMV). The strongest expressers accumulated nearly 500 ng coat protein per mg soluble leaf protein. AMV inoculation of protoplasts from these strong expressers indicated that they were resistant to infection by AMV, while protoplasts from plants containing about a hundred-fold less coat protein and from control untransformed plants were not. Transgenic alfalfa plants containing large amounts of coat protein were, likewise, resistant to AMV. These plants did not develop systemic infections following in-oculation with up to 50 μg/ml AMV, while inoculated control plants developed systemic infections following inoculation with as little as 10 μg/ml AMV. These results demonstrate that expression of the AMV coat protein gene confers resistance to AMV infection in transgenic alfalfa plants.

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Author notes

  1. Karen K. Hill: Corresponding author.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agrigenetics Company, 5649 East Buckeye Road, Madison, WI, 53716

    Karen K. Hill, Nancy Jarvis-Eagan & Karen J. Krahn

  2. SYVA-Syntex, 900 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA, 94304

    Edward L. Halk

  3. Center for Biology Education, University of Wisconsin, 660 WARF Building, Madison, WI, 53706

    Louise W. Liao

  4. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., Plant Breeding Division, W. 8131 State Highway 60, Arlington, WI, 53911

    Reyne S. Mathewson

  5. Dow Elanco, 1701 Building, Midland, MI, 48674

    Donald J. Merlo

  6. Stratagene, 2202 B. Caroline Drive, Durham, NC, 27705

    Steven E. Nelson

  7. Department of Oncology, McArdle Laboratory, University of Wisconsin, 1400 University Avenue, Madison, WI, 53706

    Kay E. Rashka

  8. Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, WI, 53706

    L. Sue Loesch-Fries

Authors
  1. Karen K. Hill
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Hill, K., Jarvis-Eagan, N., Halk, E. et al. The Development of Virus-Resistant Alfalfa, Medicago sativa L. Nat Biotechnol 9, 373–377 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0491-373

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0491-373

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