Induction of Resistance to Potato Virus Y (PVY) Using Hairpin Construct of Coat Protein

Potato virus Y (PVY) is one of the most damaging viruses of potato plants which infects most cultivars and causes a significant decrease in yield products quality and also economical losses annually. Recently, the application of pathogen derived resistance mechanisms has opened new horizons for the development of virus-resistant transgenic plants. This research was carried out to study RNA silencing to engineered potato plants that are resistant to potato virus Y (PVY). RNAi construct was designed from coat protein (CP) segment of PVY. Potato explants were transformed by Agrobacterium tumefaciens AGL1 with pCAMRNAiCP containing bar selectable gene. The rate of regenerated plants was evaluated in the selected medium containing the herbicide phosphinotricin after growth and propagation. Transgenic plants and their gene expression were investigated using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and RT-PCR. Results showed that 42 percent of regenerated plants were transformed. The expression of CP hairpin construct was determined by RT-PCR analysis in most of the lines. PVY resistance bioassay showed that 82 percent of transgenic potato plants were resistance to PVY.