Chitinase activities, scab resistance, mycorrhization rates.pdf

Chitinase activities, scab resistance, mycorrhization rates and biomass of own-rooted and grafted transgenic apple Tina Sch?fer1,2, Magda-Viola Hanke3, Henryk Flachowsky3, Stephan K?nig2, Andreas Peil3, Michael Kaldorf1, Andrea Polle4 and Fran?ois Buscot1,2 1Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Faculty of Biological Science, Pharmacy and Psychology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany. 2Department of Soil Ecology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Halle, Germany. 3Julius Kühn-Institute, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Breeding Research on Horticultural and Fruit Crops, Dresden, Germany. 4Department of Forest Botany and Tree Physiology, Büsgen-Institute, Georg-August-Universit?t G?ttingen, G?ttingen, Germany. Abstract This study investigated the impact of constitutively expressed Trichoderma atroviride genes encoding exochitinase nag70 or endochitinase ech42 in transgenic lines of the apple cultivar Pinova on the symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). We compared the exo- and endochitinase activities of leaves and roots from non-trans- genic Pinova and the transgenic lines T386 and T389. Local and systemic effects were examined using own-rooted trees and trees grafted onto rootstock M9. Scab susceptibility was also assessed in own-rooted and grafted trees. AMF root colonization was assessed microscopically in the roots of apple trees cultivated in pots with artificial sub- strate and inoculated with the AMF Glomus intraradices and Glomus mosseae. Own-rooted transgenic lines had sig- nificantly higher chitinase activities in their leaves and roots compared to non-transgenic Pinova. Both of the own-rooted transgenic lines showed significantly fewer symptoms of scab infection as well as significantly lower root colonization by AMF. Biomass production was significantly reduced in both own-rooted transgenic lines. Rootstock M9 influenced chitinase activities in the leaves of grafted scions. When grafted onto M9, th