Banana modified for Xanthomonas wilt disease resistance

The banana was modified for resistance to Xanthomonas wilt disease, caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum through the expression of Capsicum annuum hypersensitive response-assisting protein. The modified banana plants demonstrate more a robust hypersensitive response upon infection with Gram negative bacteria, such as X. campestris, and thus resist  disease related wilting. The modified banana also contains a selectable marker, Ecscherichia coli neomycin phosphotransferase II, for kanamycin selection during transformation.

pBI-HRAP

Gene expression
Transcription of Escherichia coli neomycin phosphotransferase II is under control of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens nopaline synthase (nos) promoter and terminator.

Transcription of Capsicum annuum hypersensitive response assisting protein (hrap) is under control of the Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S promoter and the nos terminator. High levels of transcription are expected due to the constitutive nature of the CaMV promoter.

Notes:
- The transformation vector was derived from the pBI121 vector using a BamHI and SacI restriction digest.
- The coding sequence of hrap was derived from the cDNA clone of the mRNA.

Some detection methods can be found in the scientific article detailing the creation of this banana event.