OBTAINING TRANSGENIC POTATO PLANTS FOR COUNTERING PHYTOPHTHORA INFESTANS VIA “HIGS” METHOD IMPLEMENTATION

Oomycetes are a group of organisms that include some of the most dangerous plant pathogens capable of causing epiphytoties that lead to reduced crop yields and famine in some countries. The only available method of combating them – repeated application of fungicides in fields and careful selection of seed material – is ineffective for most of these pathogens. This paper proposes to use the HIGS (host-induced gene silencing) approach so that genetically modified plants, when infected with late blight, would cause the pathogen to silence its effector protein genes, which would prevent the pathogen from growing and reproducing in plant. To implement the HIGS method against the pathogen Phytophthora infestans, we developed two genetically engineered constructs, one of which uses the P. infestans RXLR-effector gene AVR3a-b as the RNA interference target, and the other uses a region of the PITG_03155 effector gene, which is conserved for both P. infestans and P. cactorum. After Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation of potato plants, we obtained four transgenic plants carrying a construct based on the AVR3a-b gene (two each of the “Milena” and “Gala” varieties) and one of “Milena” variety carrying a construct based on the PITG_03155 gene. These plants will be micro clonally propagated and tested for the presence of interfering RNA to the effector genes of P. infestans, after which the plant lines are planned to be planted under natural pathogenic background conditions and a comparative analysis with control plants for disease incidence and resistance will be conducted.