Root knot nematode is one of the serious problems in growing solanceous
crops including tomato. Thus, scientists from the University of Agricultural
Sciences in India explored to develope tomato's resistance against root knot
nematode through genetic engineering.

Lectin genes from a perennial herb (Remusatia vivipara) and soil-borne
fungus (Sclerotium rolfsii) were introduced into tomato using Agrobacterium
tumefaciens transformation. Polymerase chain reaction showed that 101 rvl1
and srl1-transformed plants exhibiting kanamycin resistance carry transgenes
with 4.59% transformation efficiency. Mendelian segregation of the
introduced genes was observed in the first generation of progenies. Three
promising events of rvl1 and srl1 were selected and grown then exposed to
root knot nematode. High levels of resistance were observed in the
transgenic plants in comparison with the non-transformed control.

These results indicate that the technology can be used for variety
development of root knot nematode resistant tomatoes.

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