Construction and characterization of cDNA libraries bearing expressed sequence tags induced after treatment of Vicia faba leaves with saliylic acid

This work describes a method to construct cDNA libraries bearing expressed sequence tags of defense-related genes induced under stress conditions resembling plant pathogens’ attack. A salicylic acid solution is used to treat Vicia faba leaves obtained from plants grown under specific conditions that guarantee the specific expression of the PR-1 gene, a well known molecular marker for defense-related genes in plants. These findings may facilitate the task of plant molecular breeders and phytopathologists working on plant defense-genes isolation and cDNA libraries construction. In addition, bioinformatics and molecular biology methods confirming the plant origin of the induced cDNA sequences are proposed.