Chinese Research Institutions Succeed in Cloning Disease-causing Gene eIF4E-1

Source from:  TobaccChina Online  03/09/2014

Yunnan Academy of Tobacco Agricultural Sciences in southwest China's Yunnan Province and Heilongjiang Tobacco Research Institute in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province have successfully cooperated in cloning a disease-causing gene of tobacco potato virus Y (PVY), known as elF4E-1.

The successful cloning means one of the major achievements made under China's major exclusive tobacco genome program, and is of great application value to developing tobacco varieties resistant to the PVY and easing the problem of viruses in leaf tobacco production.

The PVY is one of the leading viruses endangering leaf tobacco in China. Presently, such leading tobacco varieties grown in China as K326, the Red Flower Great Gold Coin, Cuibi No. 1, Yunyan 87, Yunyan 97 and China Tobacco 100 are all vulnerable to the PVY, with pathogenesis turning increasingly serious year on year, and with the trend of spread of the virus turning increasingly rampant. So far, there is no economical and effective measure for treatment.

The problem of spread of the PVY is particularly serious in dry years. It used to cause serious damages to tobacco production in tobacco-producing zones in north China to the tune of hundreds of millions of yuan (tens of millions of U.S. dollars). Therefore, it has become a leading orientation of solution to develop disease-resistant varieties on the basis of developing disease-resisting genes.

So far, North Carolina State University of the United States, Imperial Tobacco and leading tobacco-producing countries including Brazil have all launched research for developing genes resistant to the PVY. The United States was one of the earliest to launch research in this endeavor.

For Yunnan Academy of Tobacco Agricultural Sciences, it has made marked achievements in exchange and cooperation with its partners in the United States in research to this effect. In 2013, China completed on a full scale the task of research on the tobacco structure genome, and decoded the genetic codes of tobacco. After acquiring a first edition of the annotated gene collection of tobacco whole genome in cultivation, Yunnan Academy of Tobacco Agricultural Sciences and Heilongjiang Tobacco Research Institute swiftly accelerated the process of joint research, acquiring eIF4E-1 from tobacco, and took the lead in proving through serious scientific experiments the crucial role of the gene in the resistance of tobacco to the PVY.

Presently, the research taskforce of the two research institutions is actively promoting the use of biotechnical means to improve the resistance of leading tobacco varieties in China to the PVY, and is expected to succeed in developing tobacco plants resistant to the PVY by the end of 2014. Therefore, the successful development of eIF4E-1 is yet another major breakthrough in the field of research on tobacco genes resistant to viruses. The use of this gene can gradually contribute to improving the resistance of high-quality tobacco varieties in China to the PVY. The latest successful development signifies a giant step taken in research on functional genes of tobacco toward industrial application. Enditem