Absence of AVP1 transcripts in wild type watermelon scions grafted onto transgenic bottle gourd rootstocks

Abstract

In this study we confirmed the stable integration of Arabidopsis AVP1 in the genomes of bottle gourd T3 homozygous lines and its transcription, and additionally evaluated possibility of translocation of the AVP1 mRNA from transgenic bottle gourd rootstocks to wild type watermelon scions. Each AVP1 gene in two bottle gourd T3 lines is abundantly expressed under a field condition. Given the grafting between wild type watermelon scions and AVP1- expressing bottle gourd rootstocks, no translocation of the AVP1 mRNA was detected in leaves, both sexual flowers, and fruits of the scions.