Cultura de tecidos e transformação genética da cultivar de arroz Irga 426 com o gene da lectina BVL de Bauhinia variegata

Abstract

Rio Grande do Sul is the largest producer of irrigated rice in Brazil. However, due to the region's climate, the productive potential of crop farms is still limited by fungal diseases. The use of tolerant or resistant cultivars is a sustainable alternative to reduce loss in rice production. Genetic transformation, coupled with tissue culture, has been assisting vegetable breeding in the production of crops resistant and tolerant to abiotic/biotic stress, contributing to the sustainability of rice culture. Lectins are proteins that bind to carbohydrates and are involved in several biological processes, including defense against diseases in plants. The main goal of this study was the insertion of the Bauhinia variegata BVL Lectin gene in different explants of cultivar IRGA 426 to obtain transformed plants with the BVL gene. To obtain the transformed plants, organogenic callus, mesocotyls and flower buds transformation technique were used. In the experiment for obtaining callus through indirect organogenisis, 2,4-D at 2,0 mg L-1 was effective, inducing the formation of an average of 47,3 calluses, of which 89% of embriogenic callus were apt for regeneration. In the regeneration step, an average of 12,73 sprouts in medium with 0,5 mg L-1 of ANA and 2,5 mg L-1 of BAP was observed. In the mesocotyls regeneration, the BAP increment in the growing medium directly reduced the length of primary shoots; however, this effect was compensated by the increse of explant multiplication, mainly with 5 mg L-1 of BAP, where an average of 21,16 sprouts were observed. After infection with the pH7WGD2::bvl vector and antibiotic selection, the callus of cv. IRGA 426 showed hyperhydricity and were not regenerated. Of the mesocotyls that went through transformation, 20,66% survived the selection medium. PCR analysis revealed a transformation efficiency of 6,35% in all sprouts and, through Western Blot, 3 plants were confirmed to express the BVL lectin. In the floral immersion transformation method, in all transformed seeds the GFP gene was active, with transient expression being observed. Based on the results obtained, the explant regeneration protocols were efficient. Molecular analysis of the transformed plants should be made to determine the number of copies of the transgene in gDNA and the role of BVL lectin in the plant physiology and its role in the plant's defense.