Identifikasi homolog TcAGL-15 untuk penanda embriogenesis

Abstract

One of the major problems encountered in micropropagation of cacao through tissue culture is very low frequency of embryo formation. Embryo genesis is believed to have key regulatory gene determining the process. Understanding such gene may help to solve problems in the regeneration process. One of the genes reported to involve in the embryogenesis is AGAMOUS-like 15 (AGL-15). This gene has an important role in the regulation of early embryogenesis in several plants. This experiment aimed to identify AGL-15 homolog in cacao through bioinformatics approach. The first step of this experiment is to identify the AGL-15 homolog using heterologous primers from UNA genomic isolated from leaves of cacao plants. The sequence of the AGL-15 fragment was used in designing specific primers for longer AGL-15 fragment. These primers were then used to identify AGL-15 gene using total RNA isolated from cultured zygotic embryos. Differential pattern of AGL-15 gene expression was observed in zygotic embryos cultured for five weeks. AGL-15 heterologous primers designed from several plants could be used to identify cacao AGL-15 homolog. The putative cacao AGL-15 gene could be identified from zygotic embryos. The differential pattern of the AGL-15 gene expression up to five weeks is a strong indication that AGL-15 can he used as an embryogenesis marker in cacao plants