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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Tifton, Georgia » Crop Protection and Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #140664
Title: APPLICATION OF DIFFERENTIAL DISPLAY RT-PCR AND EST/MICROARRAY TECHNOLOGIES TO THE ANALYSIS OF GENE EXPRESSION IN RESPONSE TO DROUGHT STRESS AND ELIMINATION OF ALFATOXIN CONTAMINATION IN CORN AND PEANUT

Author
item Guo, Baozhu
item Yu, Jiujiang
item Holbrook, Carl - Corley
item LEE, R - UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
item Lynch, Robert

Submitted to: Journal of Toxicology Toxins Reviews
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/1/2002
Publication Date: 10/1/2003
Citation: Guo, B.Z., Yu, J., Holbrook, C.C., Lee, R.D., Lynch, R.E. 2003. Application of differential display RT-PCR and EST-microarray technologies to the analysis of gene expression in response to drought stress and elimination of aflatoxin contamination in corn and peanut. Journal of Toxicology Toxin Reviews. 22(2&3):287-312.

Interpretive Summary: Corn and peanut become contaminated with aflatoxins when subjected to prolonged periods of heat and drought stress. To meet the challenge of prevention of preharvest aflatoxin contamination, it will be necessary to have a more detailed understanding of the organization and function of the genetic material of corn and peanut in response to environmental stresses. The genes that control functions leading to plant reaction to the environmental stress and fungal infection must be identified. In this paper, we discuss drought stress and aflatoxin contamination, new molecular tools used to study the genetic response to drought stress, and genetic engineering approaches to control aflatoxin contamination. Drought tolerance, for example, may be determined by many genetic factors. The "one-gene-at-a-time" approach for analyzing gene function is inadequate. It is now possible to locate multiple genes of plants in responding to environmental stresses. There are several major new molecular tools used for gene functional analysis, such as Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) and Micro-Array technology. Research progress has been made in our laboratories in genetic evaluation and selection for drought tolerant germplasm and gene identification and characterization.

Technical Abstract: Aflatoxin contamination in the field is known to be influenced by numerous factors. Drought and high temperatures are conducive to Aspergillus flavus infection and aflatoxin contamination. This article will review the application of new molecular tools to study host resistance to biotic and abiotic factors affecting preharvest aflatoxin contamination in corn and peanut. We will also summarize recent studies conducted in our laboratories to evaluate the relationship of drought tolerance and aflatoxin contamination and discuss the progress in using genetic engineering approaches to control preharvest aflatoxin contamination. The application of molecular tools, such as proteomics, DD-RT-PCR (differential reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction), expressed sequence tag (EST) and gene chip technology (macro/micro-array) to study gene expression in response to drought stress, and genetic transformation, will be reviewed. We have used DD-RT-PCR to display genes expressed in peanut and corn under drought stress vs irrigation. Polymorphism has been detected, cloned and sequenced. A new program has been initiated to use EST/microarray technology to study the whole genome as influenced by drought stress in corn and peanut. We are also studying A. flavus EST to better understand the genetic control and regulation of toxin biosynthesis. Because of the complexity of the Aspergillus-plant (corn and peanut) interactions, better understanding of the genetic mechanisms of resistance will be needed using both conventional and molecular breeding for crop improvement and control of preharvest aflatoxin contamination. Genetic improvement of crop resistance to drought stress is one component and will provide a good perspective on the efficacy of these control strategies.