Resistance to Botrytis cinerea in scented geranium transformed with a gene encoding the antimicrobial protein Ace-AMP1

Scented geranium (Pelargonium sp. 'Frensham') was transformed with a gene encoding an antimicrobial protein (Ace-AMP1) from onion through an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system. The binary vector pFAJ3033 contained the coding region of the Ace-AMP1 preproprotein-encoding cDNA. Transformants were verified by polymerase chain reaction and Southern blot analysis. Transgenic plants expressing high levels of Ace-AMP1 were identified by immunoblots and those plants were shown to have increased resistance to Botrytis cinerea leaf infection.