Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada As Represented by the Ministerof Agriculture and Agri-food Canada

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Brian Miki

Teresa Martin-Heller

Kamal Malik

A mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase kinase gene, tMEK2, was isolated from tomato cv. Bonny Best. By mutagenesis, a permanently-active variant, tMEK2 , was created. Both wild type tMEK2 and mutant tMEK2 were driven by a strong constitutive promoter, tCUP&Dgr;, in a tomato protoplast transient expression system. Pathogenesis-related genes, PR1b1 and PR3, and a wound-inducible gene, ER5, were activated by tMEK2 expression revealing the convergence of the signal transduction pathways for pathogen attack and mechanical stress at the level of MAPKK. Activation of biotic and abiotic stress response genes downstream of tMEK2 occurred through divergent pathways involving at least two classes of mitogen-activated protein kinase. This study shows that tMEK2 may play an important role in the interaction of signal transduction pathways that mediate responses to both biotic (eg disease) and abiotic (wound responsiveness) stresses.

Growing community of inventors

Ottawa, Canada

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