Transformation And Application Of Populus’ Resistance-related Genes In Arabidopsis Thaliana

Helicoverpa armigera is one of the most serious pests in Agriculture worldwidedue to the large-scale damage, the huge reproductive potential, and the ability to adaptto various environments. For a long time, the prevention and treatment of Helicoverpaarmigera rely mainly on chemical pesticides, but because of the unreasonableapplication of them, it has resulted in the sharp increase in resistance to bollworm,which led to the control effect highly undesirable. In addition, the excessive use ofchemical pesticides has released a large number of chemical compounds into theenvironment that we live, which, directly or indirectly, posed a great threat to theenvironment, biological system as well as human’s health, and one of the majorobstacles to the economic and social development. In this project, four highlyinducible genes of poplar trees, PtdKTI5, PtdWIN4, PtdPOP3from hybrid poplar(Populus trichocarpa×P. deltoides) and PtKTI2from trembling aspen (Populustremuloides Michx.) have been individually transformed into Arabidopsis thaliana foroverexpression. High transcriptional level of each transgenic Arabidopsis lines wasconfirmed by analysis. The development, body weight and survivorship of cottonbollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) fed on four types of transgenic Arabidopisplantswere evaluated in the laboratory. Our data indicated that these four Populusdefense-related genes exhibited various degree of insectital activity on larval andpostlarval development of cotton bollworm and may be utilized for herbivoreresistance improvement in plant genetic engineering.As is known to us, many important forest traits, such as forest resilience, materialquality, growth and development as well as others, are controlled by complex networkmade up of multiple genes and multiple signaling pathways. Although some progresshas been made via the research on forest genetic engineering, limited is the functionof a single gene cloned in Breeding. Through long-time evolutionary, plant hasformed naturally occurring gene clusters within the chromosome for a particular trait.Transforming exogenous gene cluster into plant genome at the same site may bepossible to confer the receptor plant new trait controlled by multiple genes. Insertionof the large fragment of the gene cluster can, to some extent, overcome negativephenomena, such as genetically modified position effect and gene silencing, and can also be easier to obtain the desired results compared to transferring only one gene.Populus Salicaceae is a plant of Populus Populus subgenus, often grows in the desert,and is featured by it strong resistance to cold, drought, salinity, and so on. In thepresent study, on the basis of BIBAC of the Populus material constructed andcombination with the technique of transforming large fragment DNA, Arabidopsismutant library containing its whole genomic DNA fragment was constructed to verifygene function, to screen out potential key genes (clusters) and regulatory elements formolecular breeding, and to isolate and identify a number of traits-related genes(clusters) and regulatory elements, providing a basis for further cultivation of newvarieties of high-resistance and high-quality forest through molecular breedingmethods.