Author
|
Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 11/20/2004 Publication Date: 9/1/2005 Citation: Weiland, J.J. 2005. Cercospora beticola expressing the green fluorescent protein for studies on the biology of sugarbeet leaf spot disease [Abstract]. Journal of Sugar Beet Research. 42(1&2):55. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Leaf spot disease of sugarbeet remains an important problem in beet sugar production. The elusive nature of control strategies for the causal organism of leaf spot, Cercospora beticola, is due in large part to our poor understanding of Cercospora genetics and biology. A color-marked, transgenic isolate (101004a) of C. beticola expressing the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria was produced that can be visualized by fluorescence microscopy. The isolate remained the ability to incite leaf spot disease on inoculated sugarbeet plants. Appropriate light filtering permitted the visualization of C. beticola mycelium against the background fluorescence of sugarbeet tissue structural components. Detection of GFP in extracts of isolate 101004a was also possible using a fluorescence microplate reader, allowing for quantitative growth assays to be developed. Isolate 101004a will be used in the examination of seedling root penetration by C. beticola and in additional experiments aimed at understanding the biology of this sugarbeet pathogen. |
