Book Description

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is economically important not only for vegetable oil but also as a source of proteins, minerals and vitamins. It is widely grown in the semi-arid tropics and plays a role in the world agricultural economy. In India groundnut is produced in Rabi (25%) and Khariff (75%) both having two-crop cycle harvested in March and October respectively. Rust (caused by Puccinia arachidis) and late leaf spot (LLS) (caused by Cercosporidium personatum) are two major foliar fungal diseases of groundnut and can cause yield loss upto 70%. Use of fungicide is costly approach and it is not envirnment-friendly also, therefore transgenic new cultivars with genetic resistance is sustainable, environment-friendly and cost effective approach. Cultivated groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is considered as one of the primary oilseed crops and a major fodder for cattle industry in most of the developing countries, owing to its rich source of protein. It is due to its geocarpic nature of growth that the overall yield performance of groundnut is hindered by several biotic and abiotic stress factors. Multidimensional attempts were undertaken to combat these factors by developing superior groundnut varieties, modied with integral mechanism of tolerance/resistance; however this approach proved to be futile, owing to inferior pod and kernel quality. As a superior alternative, biotechnological intervention like transformation of foreign genes, either directly (biolistic) or via Agrobacterium, signicantly aided in the development of advanced groundnut genotypes equipped with integral resistance against stresses and enhanced yield attributing traits. Several genes triggered by biotic and abiotic stresses, were detected and some of them were cloned and transformed as major parts of transgenic programmes. Leaf spot, rust, root rot, bud necrosis, rosette and crown rot are the devastating diseases of groundnut in India. It starts to attack the crop from seedling stage continues till maturity of fruits and almost damages all the plant parts (shoot, leaf, ower and fruits). Under severe attacks at early stage of crop may cause complete failure of crop especially in rain fed areas. Mostly the pest is managed through application of synthetic chemicals. They are effective, easy to apply and show rapid effects but they have begun to be withdrawn from the market in some developed countries owing to concerns about public health and environmental issues. Therefore, transgenic approach prove to be better for successful and protected disease management.