Two orthologs of late blight resistance gene R1 in wild and cultivated potato

详细

The R1 gene for resistance to oomycete Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary, the causal agent of late blight disease of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), was initially identified in S. demissum and potato varieties bred by introgressing the S. demissum germplasm. Later a sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) marker R1-1205 of this gene was also found in S. stoloniferum and S. polytrichon. Here we describe the full-length R1 sequence cloned from S. stoloniferum. This sequence is translatable, and this evidence of structural gene integrity is reinforced by functional characterization of the S. stoloniferumR1 gene in an effectoromics experiment. When screened across a series of S. demissum and S. stoloniferum accessions, the R1 sequences differed by several single nucleotide polymorphisms and an indel; this indel served the basis for constructing SCAR markers R1-517 and R1-513 that reliably discerned two R1 orthologs. The demissum-specific marker R1-517 was found in all S. demissum accessions under study; it was also present in many demissum-derived potato varieties and hybrids. The stoloniferum-specific marker R1-513 was found in 27% of S. stoloniferum and S. polytrichon accessions; however, we failed to discern this marker in the genotypes of cultivated potato listing S. stoloniferum in their pedigrees. Most probably, such absence of R1-513 is best explained by an opportunistic breeding history of stoloniferum-derived founder lines, which were employed first and foremost in breeding for resistance to potato virus Y: eventually, these founder lines are devoid of the R1 gene.