Cotton leaf curl virus resistance transgenics with antisense coat protein gene (AV1)

Cotton leaf curl virus disease is one of the major threats for cotton production and has emerged as a serious disease of cotton in North India. Cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) is caused by a geminivirus, transmitted by whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) vector. Genetic engineering of cotton transgenics resistant to CLCuD through antisense RNA approach is a potential technique to tackle the disease in cotton. Cotton transgenics resistant to CLCuD using antisense coat protein (ACP) gene was developed via Agrobacterium mediated transformation. A binary vector carrying the ACP gene along with the nptII (neomycin phosphotransferase) gene driven by CaMV-35S promoter and nos (nopaline synthase) terminator was used for transformation.