Isolation, molecular characterization, and mapping of four rose MLO orthologs

authored by

Helgard Kaufmann, Xianqin Qiu, Juliane Wehmeyer, Thomas Debener

Abstract

Powdery mildew is a major disease of economic importance in cut and pot roses. As an alternative to conventional resistance breeding strategies utilizing single-dominant genes or QTLs, mildew resistance locus o (MLO)-based resistance might offer some advantages. In dicots such as Arabidopsis, pea, and tomato, loss-of-function mutations in MLO genes confer high levels of broad-spectrum resistance. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of four MLO homologs from a large rose EST collection isolated from leaves. These genes are phylogenetically closely related to other dicot MLO genes that are involved in plant powdery mildew interactions. Therefore, they are candidates for MLO genes involved in rose powdery mildew interactions. Two of the four isolated genes contain all of the sequence signatures considered to be diagnostic for MLO genes. We mapped all four genes to three linkage groups and conducted the first analysis of alternative alleles. This information is discussed in regards to a reverse genetics approach aimed at the selection of rose plants that are homozygous for loss-of-function in one or more MLO genes.

Organisation(s)

Section Molecular Plant Breeding

External Organisation(s)

Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (YAAS)

Type

Article

Journal

Frontiers in Plant Science

Volume

3

ISSN

1664-462X

Publication date

02.11.2012

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Plant Science

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2012.00244 (Access: Open)