Investigating the Pathogenesis Response of Soybean Varieties with High Quality Indices

Presenter Information

Paskal Pandey, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Anil Thapa, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Location

CSU 202

Start Date

28-4-2009 10:00 AM

End Date

28-4-2009 12:00 PM

Student's Major

Chemistry and Geology

Student's College

Science, Engineering and Technology

Mentor's Name

Theresa Salerno

Mentor's Department

Chemistry and Geology

Mentor's College

Science, Engineering and Technology

Description

Plants have the ability to defend themselves against pathogens by activating the expression of pathogenesis related (PR) proteins. Very little is known about the induction of these proteins and how breeding for protein quality affects the expression of these PR genes. These proteins include several protein classes; the first two classes include a PR-la protein and a beta -1,3- endoglucanase enzyme. The objective of this research project was to investigate whether these PR proteins were induced by mechanical wounding, and whether this induction of mRNA expression was similar in two soybean varieties that differed in their protein quality. Soybeans were germinated and cotyledon leaves were mechanically wounded. Tissues were harvested at varying times following wounding and the RNAs were extracted using a Qiagen RNeasy Kit. After quantitation, the soybean RNAs were used to synthesize complementary deoxyribonucleic acid (cDNA) using a reverse transcription kit. Primers were designed and the cDNAs formed were simultaneously amplified and quantified using the real time polymerase chain reaction method and SYBR Green dye (qPCR). The method was first optimized to allow for quantitation of both PR mRNAs and the housekeeping mRNA, beta actin. Then, it was used to measure differences in the PR mRNAs in the control and wounded tissues of two different soybean varieties.