Effect of Anti-Fungal Transgene(s) on Agronomic Traits of Transgenic Peanut Lines Grown under Field Conditions

Agronomic traits may become adversely affected when field crops are transformed with foreign genes which confer resistance to plant pathogens. Field testing of such transformed plant lines is necessary to determine if desirable yield components have been retained through the transformation and regeneration process. Thirtyfour peanut lines, thirty-two of which are transgenic containing anti-fungal genes, were evaluated under field conditions for a 3-year period. Peanut lines were arranged in a complete randomized block design with three replications. Disease incidence was recorded throughout the growing season, the yield components of pod mass, shelling percentage, and seed weight were determined upon harvest, and the data were analyzed for statistical significance. Deterioration of yield components was observed for 5/32 transgenic lines and was not always consistent with increased disease incidence. Yield components measured for the majority of transgenic lines tested were comparable to the parental genotype Okrun, suggesting retention of desirable market traits by these plant lines. Of the plant lines retaining desirable quality traits, 10 demonstrated increased resistance to fungal infection compared to Okrun. These results have identified transgenic peanut lines with potential use in breeding programs for disease resistance coupled with desirable yield components.