Identification and in-silico characterization of RPN10 gene as a candidate for genome editing to develop little leaf disease resistance in brinjal

Abstract

Brinjal is an economically important nutrition-rich fruit vegetable. Among the various biotic stresses, the little leaf of brinjal caused by phytoplasma is a severe threat to its production. The disease occurrence has tremendously increased in the recent past causing almost 100% yield losses in severe conditions. Due to the non-availability of a strong resistance source in brinjal genotypes, its management is a challenging task. In the present study, 26S proteasome non-ATPase regulatory subunit 4 homolog or RPN10 gene which is the target of SAP05 effector of phytoplasma is identified in phytoplasma resistant Kashi Uttam variety of brinjal. The RPN10 gene in brinjal was amplified and sequenced. Evolutionary analysis showed that the RPN10 gene is highly conserved in plant species which are natural hosts for phytoplasma. A comparison of motifs and domains in RPN10 protein of Arabidopsis and brinjal revealed 100% similarity. 3-dimensional protein structures were generated using I-TASSER server and structural comparison also showed perfect similarity between RPN10 protein in brinjal and Arabidopsis. The results in the study propose RPN10 protein in brinjal as the potential candidate gene target for genome editing to develop resistance against little leaf disease in brinjal.