Francescutti, Teresa Marie2010-03-012010-03-0120072010-03-01http://hdl.handle.net/1828/2289Cationic Antimicrobial Peptides (CAPs) exhibit broad-spectrum activity against a variety of microbial pathogens at concentrations that are non-toxic to higher eukaryotes. These properties make them excellent candidates for both pharmaceutical and agricultural applications. Here BMAP18, a CAP with an especially high charge to mass ratio, is evaluated for efficient production of the peptide and enhancement of disease resistance in transgenic potato. In vitro analyses indicated that BMAP18 had potent activity against a variety of clinically and agriculturally relevant pathogens, including the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei. In planta activity was assessed by transformation of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) plants with a synthetic BMAP18 gene under control of the enhanced CaMV 35S promoter or the Douglas-fir lumina] Binding Protein (PmBiP) promoter. Stable transformants expressing the transgene were shown to accumulate the peptide and exhibited enhanced resistance to Fusarium wilt and bacterial soft rot caused by Erwinia caratovora.enAvailable to the World Wide Webplantsdisease and pest resistancepeptide antibioticsUVic Subject Index::Sciences and Engineering::Chemistry::BiochemistryUVic Subject Index::Sciences and Engineering::Biology::MicrobiologyThesis