Genetic Transformation of Pear for Fire Blight Resistance and Growth Habit Improvement
Author: Richard Bell
Published: 2002
Summary: Fire blight is the most serious disease of pears. All of the major pear cultivars grown in North America are highly susceptible, and infection can result in severe short- and long-term economic losses. Resistant clones of the major cultivars would significantly reduce both the incidence and severity of infections. Genetic transformation offers a means of introducing antibacterial genes into currently important cultivars without changing their other important characteristics. This approach has already been used by researchers at Cornell University to improve the level of fire blight resistance ofM.7 and M.26 apple rootstocks, and 'Gala' and 'Galaxy' apple cultivars, and by French INRI\. researchers to transform 'Passe Crassane1 pear. The genes used by this and other research groups are responsible for producing natural and synthetic 11lytic peptides11 which disrupt the bacterial cell membrane.
