Development of fusarium wilt resistant mutants of Musa spp. cv.Rasthali (AAB, Silk subgroup) and comparative proteomic analysis along with its wild type.

Induced mutagenesis using embryogenic cell suspension (ECS) explants with toxin based screening is an effective tool to create non-chimeral Fusarium wilt resistant mutants in banana. Global proteomics unravel the molecular mechanism behind resistance. Race 1 of Fusarium wilt is a serious threat to Musa spp. cv.Rasthali (AAB, Silk subgroup) which is a choice variety traditionally grown in most of the south East Asian countries. Resistant gene introgression into susceptible varieties through conventional breeding has several limitations and the predominant ones being sterility and long generation time. Under such circumstances, induced mutagenesis combined with toxin based in vitro screening remains as the viable alternative for the development of fusarium wilt resistant Rasthali. Therefore, induced mutagenesis was attempted by using ethylmethane sulfonate (EMS) in embryogenic cell suspension (ECS) of Rasthali followed by in vitro screening for fusarium wilt resistance using new generation toxins and pot screening through challenge inoculation with Foc race 1. This ultimately resulted in the identification of 15 resistant lines. Global proteomic analysis in one of the resistant mutant lines namely NRCBRM15 and its wild type revealed 37 proteins, of which 20 showed differential expression. Out of 20 proteins, nineteen were significantly abundant in NRCBRM15 and only one was abundant in wild Rasthali. A total of nine genes based on protein expression were further validated using quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Annotation results revealed that some of the genes namely Enolase, ATP synthase-alpha subunit, Actin 2, Actin 3,-glucanase, UTP-glucose-1-phosphate uridylyltransferase, Respiratory burst oxidase homolog, V type proton ATPase catalytic subunit A and DUF292 domain containing protein are involved in diverse functions such as carbohydrate metabolism, energy production, electron carrier, response to wounding, binding proteins, cytoskeleton organization, extracellular region, structural molecule and defense.