Increasing expression of the PR1 gene in quince (Cydonia oblanga) by application of Bion elicitor

One of the safe methods for fire blight disease management in quince plant (Cydonia oblanga) is through activating plant indigenous defense systems using defense elicitors such as Bion (Benzothiadiazole). Investigating the effect of PR1 defense genes group in induced defense mechanism by Bion in quince was the purpose of this study. For this, RNA was extracted from leaf tissues of bion-sprayed (400 mg/L) and water sprayed (control) plants was used for cDNA synthesis. First, a 750 bp fragment of the actin gene from quince, as a house keeping gene, was cloned and sequenced. The result of sequencing showed it has 99% homology with appleactin gene. Specific primers for quince actin gene were designed and used to study changes in PR1 gene expression in bion-treated comparing control plants using real-time PCR method. Based on the results, Bion treatment caused 10 times increase in the PR1 gene expression. Based of result, the effect of Bion in relative control of fire blight in quince can partly be related to PR1 defense proteins activities.