Life Sciences & Biotechnology
Title : | Promotr Editing of Autophagy Genes, SlATG12 AND SlATG13, in Tomato for Enhanced Tolerance to Septoria Leaf Spot Disease Using CRISPR/Cas9 Approach |
Area of research : | Life Sciences & Biotechnology |
Principal Investigator : | Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagarathnam, Madras University, Tamil Nadu |
Timeline Start Year : | 2023 |
Timeline End Year : | 2026 |
Contact info : | itsmerk@gmail.com |
Equipments : | Spectrophotometer |
Details
Executive Summary : | Septoria lycopersici causes leaf spot disease in tomato, which results in devastative damage to tomato cultivation. The fungus could infect the plants at any stage of development, and the typical infection is characterized by the appearance of circular or angular lesions on the leaves. Prolonged infection results in the merger of lesions, thus leading to yellowing of the leaves. The dried leaf then falls off from the plant, and the falling-off of infected leaves affects the plant's growth and development, resulting in the immature development of the plant. Studies on the pathogenesis of S. lycopersici and host resistance mechanism in the purview of developing resistance to leaf spot disease in tomato are limited. Also, there is limited availability of resistant germplasm, which constraints the enhancement of disease resistance in tomato through molecular breeding and transgene-based strategies. In our earlier study, we have analyzed the transcriptome of infected and uninfected (control) tomato plants in the presence and absence of an elicitor (?-carrageenan) at different time points (Sumithradevi et al. 2021). The study found that two autophagy-related genes, SlATG12 and SlATG13, were significantly upregulated during disease infection in elicitor-treated plants, suggesting that this gene might confer resistance to Septoria leaf spot disease. Thus, to enhance the expression of SlATG12 and SlATG13 to develop disease-resistant plants, promoter editing is proposed. To achieve this, CRISPR/Cas9 approach will be used, through which the upstream region will be targeted for editing. The addition or deletion of cis-regulatory elements in the upstream region modifies the binding of transcription factors, which thus will affect the expression of genes. As genome-edited lines can now be allowed for commercial cultivation (F. No. C-12013/3/2020-CS-III dt. 30.03.2022), the proposed project has direct relevance to providing edited lines to the farmers cultivating tomato in the hotspot regions where Septoria leaf spot disease is more prevalent. |
Co-PI: | Dr. Muthamilarasan M, University Of Hyderabad, Telangana-500046 |
Total Budget (INR): | 40,07,696 |
Organizations involved