Caracterização de sequências potencialmente promotoras de expressão gênica caráter tecido-específica de bananeiras (Musa spp.) utilizando RT-PCR e qPCR

Abstract

The banana tree is a tropical plant of great economical importance. Its fruit is worldwidely consumed and its production exerts a great social impact, for it keeps the labor on the field which steers the local economy, hence creating income through direct and indirect jobs. The banana crop has been facing many biotic problems mainly caused by fungi as well as by abiotic stress such as winds and drought. Such problems has affected the crops productive cycle thus reducing its production. Being the second most produced fruit in the world 2008, with a 89.099t yield (FAO, 2010), this species presents different degree of sterility which affects the conventional breeding programs. The employment of genetic engineering techniques could be used to solve such problems. Thus, the characterization of promoters that drives the specific tissue gene expression becomes of great importance, for it also allows the use of genes from the same species in a cisgenic approach. In the current work, gene sequences previously selected through virtual screening taken from DATAmusa gene bank, were analyzed. In order to study the promoter expression, these sequences allowed designing primers for PCR reactions having cDNA obtained from seven different tissues collected from Grande Naine and Prata Anã cultivars. Therefore once the tissue gene expression is characterized, we can identify powerful promoters for cisgenic approach.