Natural Genes and Mechanisms for Resistance to Viruses in Cultivated and Wild Potato Species (Solanum spp.)

The types of resistance to viruses in potato are immunity, extreme resistance coded for by the R genes and hypersensitivity coded for by the N genes. Immunity prevents the establishment of virus infection, whereas extreme resistance is expressed as an extremely low virus titre resulting from restricted virus multiplication or localization of virus infection in the plant without obvious necrotic reactions. Expression of the N genes can also lead to localization of the virus infection followed by necrosis at the infection site. Tolerance to virus infection and resistance to inoculation and virus vectors are useful components of field resistance. Virus or virus strain specific resistance genes have been identified in cultivated and wild potato species and transferred to cultivated potato. However, combining resistance to the three globally most important viruses PLRV, PVY and PVX has proved difficult, and new sources of broad spectrum resistance to viruses are required for potato breeding. New molecular techniques will enhance the isolation of the natural resistance genes and studies of gene regulation.     

Molecular markers for late blight resistance breeding of potato: an update

Late blight is the most devastating disease of the potato crop that can be effectively managed by growing resistant cultivars. Introgression of resistance (R) genes/quantitative trait loci (QTLs) from the Solanum germplasm into common potato is one of the plausible approaches to breed resistant cultivars. Although the conventional method of breeding will continue to play a primary role in potato improvement, molecular marker technology is becoming one of its integral components. To achieve rapid success, from the past to recent years, several R genes/QTLs that originated from wild/cultivated Solanum species were mapped on the potato genome and a few genes were cloned using molecular approaches. As a result, molecular markers closely linked to resistance genes or QTLs offer a quicker potato breeding option through marker‐assisted selection (MAS). However, limited progress has been achieved so far through MAS in potato breeding. In near future, new resistance genes/QTLs are expected to be discovered from wild Solanum gene pools and linked molecular markers would be available for MAS. This article presents an update on the development of molecular markers linked to late blight resistance genes or QTLs by utilization of Solanum species for MAS in potato.     

Utilisation of the Commonwealth Potato Collection in potato breeding

Summary The use of the Commonwealth Potato Collection in potato breeding is set in the context of the evolution of the crop and the need to widen its genetic base by introgression and base broadening. The introduction of the potato to Europe and its subsequent worldwide spread is described. An introduction is given to the world's major potato genebanks, and the current status of the Commonwealth Potato Collection is presented. Material from this genebank has been extensively used to improve the potato. Work on wild species as sources of resistance to late blight started before the genebank was initiated, and since then CPC accessions have provided major R-genes and durable resistance to breeders, greatly benefiting growers and consumers of the potato. Progress identifying and exploiting resistance to viruses and potato cyst nematodes is described. New sources of further pest and disease resistance genes are present in the germplasm in the collection, offering the potential to overcome current and future pests and diseases. Use of the cultivated species in the collection for base broadening is described and discussed. The collection also harbours a wide range of quality traits of use to breeders, including variation for cooking and crisping, anthocyanins, carotenoids, ascorbate metabolism and others. As breeding and genetics become more precise, and as both the knowledge of biochemical pathways and means of analysing chemical composition advance, new ways of accessing this variation become possible. Possible strategies to achieve these goals are discussed.     

The importance of wild potato species resistant to the potato cyst nematode,Globodera pallida,pathotypes P4A and P5A,in potato breeding. I. Resistance studies

Summary Seven wild diploid potato species, Series Tuberosa, representing 1023 clones were screened for resistance to the potato cyst nematode, Globodera pallida. Over 25% of the clones were resistant to pathotype P₄A and almost 30% were resistant to pathotype P₅A. The resistance in hybrid progenies of these and other resistant species with cultivated potatoes was evaluated, and over 2200 seedlings were screened. High frequencies of resistance (>50%) to P₄A were found in progenies with Solanum leptophyes, S. vernei, S. gourlayi and S. capsicibaccatum, whereas resistance to P₅A was found in these species as well as S. sparsipilum. The importance of nematode resistant wild species for potato breeding is discussed.     

Cisgenesis: an important sub-invention for traditional plant breeding companies

Modern plant breeding is highly dependent on new technologies to master future problems. More traits have to be combined, frequently originating from wild species. Traditional breeding is connected with linkage drag problems. The crop plant itself and its crossable species represent the traditional breeders gene pool. GM-breeding is a new way of improving existing varieties. Transgenes originate from non-crossable species and are representing a new gene pool. For release of GM-plants into the environment and onto the market in Europe Directive 2001/18/EC has been developed, primarily based on GM-technology and not on gene source. In society, opposition against GM crops is complicating the implementation of GM crops. In this paper, it is shown that not only transgenes, representing a new gene pool but also cisgenes and intragenes are available, representing the breeders gene pool. Cisgenes are natural genes and intragenes are composed of functional parts of natural genes from the crop plant itself or from crossable species. Cisgenesis is the combined use of only cisgenes with marker-free transformation, mimicking linkage drag free introgression breeding in one step. Therefore, cisgenesis is a new sub-invention in the traditional breeding field and indicates the need for reconsideration of GM Directives. Inventions are frequently containing not only hardware elements, but also software and orgware elements. For cisgenesis it is foreseen that the technical (hardware) and bioinformatic (software) elements will develop smoothly, but that implementation in society is highly dependent on acceptance and regulations (orgware). It could be made in a step by step approach by specific crop-gene derogations from the Directive, followed by adding cisgenesis to annex 1b of Directive 2001/18/EC for exemption. At present GM crops can only be introduced by large companies. An open innovation approach for cisgenesis by public private partnership including traditional SMEs has been discussed. Cisgenesis has been exemplified for resistance breeding of potato to Phytophthtora infestans.     

Diversity of potato genetic resources

A considerable number of highly diverse species exist in genus Solanum. Because they can adapt to a broad range of habitats, potato wild relatives are promising sources of desirable agricultural traits. Potato taxonomy is quite complex because of introgression, interspecific hybridization, auto- and allopolyploidy, sexual compatibility among many species, a mixture of sexual and asexual reproduction, possible recent species divergence, phenotypic plasticity, and the consequent high morphological similarity among species. Recent researchers using molecular tools have contributed to the identification of genes controlling several types of resistance as well as to the revision of taxonomical relationships among potato species. Historically, primitive forms of cultivated potato and its wild relatives have been used in breeding programs and there is still an enormous and unimaginable potential for discovering desirable characteristics, particularly in wild species Different methods have been developed to incorporate useful alleles from these wild species into the improved cultivars. Potato germplasm comprising of useful alleles for different breeding objectives is preserved in various gene banks worldwide. These materials, with their invaluable information, are accessible for research and breeding purposes. Precise identification of species base on the new taxonomy is essential for effective use of the germplasm collection.     

An evaluation of Solanum verrucosum Schlechtd. For its possible use in potato breeding

Summary Solanum verrucosum is a diploid (2n=24) wild potato species from Mexico. It is self-compatible, but in greenhouse artificial selfing is mostly necessary for seed setting. The species has a good male and female fertility and possesses resistance to different races and isolates of Phytophthora infestans. It is easily crossable with different species from South America. The good crossability, the genomic constitution and resistance to diseases favour its use in potato breeding at the diploid level.     

利用磁珠富集马铃薯BAC文库中NBS-LRR类晚疫病抗性基因

栽培马铃薯是高度杂合的四倍体作物,利用传统的基因克隆方式进行晚疫病抗性基因分离难度很大。然而,晚疫病抗性基因具有序列保守性,属于NBS-LRR类基因。本研究中,根据晚疫病抗性基因R3a家族的序列比对结果设计R3a基因家族的保守探针,并将含有R3a基因的BAC SH23G23部分酶切成7~11 kb DNA片段。通过结合保守探针的磁珠系统对上述7~11 kb DNA片段进行R3a基因分离,将磁珠富集的片段克隆到双元载体pBINPLUS上。通过阳性克隆和菌落PCR鉴定表明,含有R3a基因的克隆比率达到82.76%,相对于磁珠系统富集前,提高R3a基因比率近19倍。本研究建立了抗病基因及其同源序列的磁珠分离系统,为分离马铃薯等多倍体作物中具有保守结构的基因提供了实验基础。     

Crossability between cultivated and wild tuber-and non-tuber-bearing Solanums

The cultivated potato has over 200 extant wild relatives many of which contain genes valuable for disease resistance, hardiness, processing and agronomic traits. Crossability of these wild species directly with the cultivated potato is complicated by several reproductive phenomena such as stylar and ploidy barriers and Endosperm Balance Numbers (EBN). However, a systematic analysis of crossability with many of these wild relatives has never fully been examined. Reciprocal crosses were made between cultivated potato and over 400 wild potato accessions; stylar barriers and 2n gamete production were examined as was the fertility of many of the putative hybrids. Generally, the seed/fruit ratio increased the more closely related the species were to the cultivated potato. However, a few crosses were successful in spite of predicted failure due to ploidy or EBN differences. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Deployment of wild relatives for genetic improvement in rice (Oryza sativa)

Rice is one of the most important crops in the world. The wild species of rice are expected to have novel beneficial alleles that have been lost from cultivated rice during the process of domestication. Therefore, wild species could be the potential source to induce lost genetic diversity in cultivated rice. Serving as an important reservoir of novel genes/QTLs, wild species, in general, are better adapted to different ecologies and can tolerate many biotic and abiotic stresses. Despite that, only a few wild species are studied and extensive characterization both at the molecular and morphological level is yet to be achieved. Several agronomically important genes/QTLs for improving biotic and abiotic stresses, resistance, productivity and grain quality traits were identified from AA genome donor wild species and were tagged with breeder friendly molecular markers for their transfer to elite genetic backgrounds. The present review provides information on the important wild rice species harbouring genes/QTLs for agriculturally important traits and their successful utilization in rice breeding programmes.     

The importance of wild potato species resistant to the potato cyst nematode,Globodera pallida,pathotypes P4A and P5A,in potato breeding. II. The crossability of resistant species

Summary Over 2400 pollinations were made to investigate the crossability relationships between cultivated potatoes, and wild diploid species from Series Tuberosa and Circaeifolia, as well as wild polyploid species in Series Tuberosa and Longipedicellata resistant to potato cyst nematode, Globodera pallida pathotypes P₄A and P₅A. Wild diploids in Series Tuberosa crossed easily with cultivated diploid species, except with Solanum lignicaule where most pollinations failed, and seed set was extremely low (0.2 seeds per pollination or less). It is suggested that this species is 1EBN. S. capsicibaccatum is clearly isolated from Series Tuberosa, but can form hybrids with S. lignicaule, which can act as a bridging species to S. tuberosum haploids. S. gourlayi and S. oplocense can be crossed with both subspecies of S. tuberosum, but S. papita, Series Longipedicellata is reproductively isolated from the tetraploid cultigens. The crossability data are discussed in the light of germplasm utilisation for breeding potato varieties resistant to potato cyst nematode.     

Characterization of resistance to Globodera rostochiensis pathotype Ro1 in cultivated and wild potato species accessions from the Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry

Potato cyst nematodes (PCN) collected in six localities in the Leningrad region of North West Russia were identified as Globodera rostochiensis pathotype Ro1 and were used for subsequent resistance tests. Seventy‐nine accessions of cultivated and closely related wild potato species from the VIR collection in Russia were screened on resistance to G. rostochiensis pathotype Ro1 and on the presence of molecular markers for H1 and Gro1‐4 resistance genes. No associations were detected between the resistance level of diploid and tetraploid Andean and tetraploid Chilean potato landraces (indigenous cultivars) and their related wild species and their geographical distribution or presence of PCR‐based markers that are associated with the H1 and Gro1‐4 genes. At the same time, all susceptible genotypes lacked such markers. New sources of resistance were found and could be used in breeding.     

水稻抗褐飞虱基因及其育种应用研究进展

褐飞虱是危害水稻生产最重要的害虫之一。遏制水稻褐飞虱为害的最安全、有效的措施既利用水稻自身的抗虫性。迄今为止,已经于栽培稻和野生稻中成功鉴定出30个水稻抗褐飞虱基因,其中26个主效抗性基因已被定位,显性基因Bph14已成功克隆,但仅少量主效抗性基因被育种家利用并培育出抗性品种。对褐飞虱的生物型和抗性机理、水稻抗褐飞虱的遗传基础及育种应用研究进行了综述,并就今后的抗性育种研究趋势展开了讨论。     

Resistance to powdery mildew in wild emmer (Triticum dicoccoides Körn.)

Summary Wild emmer from 73 collection sites, including 107 accessions from Israel, two from Lebanon and one from Turkey, were evaluated for resistance to powdery mildew in field nurseries in Israel and the Netherlands.The wild emmer entries displayed a diversity of responses to powdery mildew infection, ranging from high resistance to complete susceptibility. Most entries were resistant in at least one of the nurseries; several entries proved to be resistant in all the tests.Comparing the reactions of 47 wild emmer accessions tested in six nurseries, 11 markedly different patterns were discerned, indicating the probable presence of several different resistance genes.Genes for resistance to powdery mildew appear to be very common in wild emmer indigenous to Israel. Resistance was found in accessions from most collection sites, in all the geographic regions represented in the collection.The common occurrence of resistance and the apparent diversity of genotypes makes wild emmer a rich gene-pool for resistance to powdery mildew. Since genes for resistance to wheat pathogens can be quite readily transferred to cultivated wheat, wild emmer may be utilized as a valuable source of powdery mildew resistance in wheat breeding.     

Transfer of resistance to potato cyst nematode (globodera pallida) into cultivated potato Solanum tuberosum through first division restitution 2n pollen

Genetic resistance to potato cyst nematode is considered as one of the most effective means of increasing yield and reducing nematode infestation levels in potato fields. In this study, resistance to this nematode was successfully transferred from diploid tuber-bearing Solanums to the tetraploid gene pool using a 4x-2x breeding approach. More specifically, resistance from Solanum vernei, S. sparsipilum and haploids of S. tuberosum group Andigena was introgressed into conventional tetraploid clones, using first division restitution (FDR) 2n gametes. Furthermore, some of the FDR diploid parents had similar breeding values as advanced resistant tetraploid clones which were developed only after several cycles of selection against the potato cyst nematode. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

马铃薯种质资源的研究与利用

概述了马铃薯种质资源基本情况和我国马铃薯遗传育种现状,分析了目前主要存在的问题与对策,提出野生种、原始栽培种与地方品种针对性筛选与鉴定工作的重要性与迫切性,指出加强资源的基础研究与优良抗性基因的利用,丰富育种材料的遗传基础,同时加强常规育种与现代生物技术结合,是促进种质资源创新研究使品种选育跨上新台阶的关键。     

Gene banks and their contribution to the breeding of disease resistant cultivars

Summary Genetic variation in crop species and their wild relatives holds the key to the successful breeding of improved crop cultivars with durable resistance to disease. The importance of the conservation, characterization and utilization of plant genetic resources nationally and internationally has been recognised, though much remains to be done. Gene banks have now been established in many countries and at most of the international crop research centres. Cell and tissue culture techniques and biotechnological aids have done much to ensure the creation and safe transfer of healthy germplasm around the world. Multidisciplinary, international research and collaboration are essential to the successful breeding of improved disease resistant cultivars. Examples are given of the effective use of genetic resources in breeding disease resistant cultivars of a number of crops, including cotton, rice, potatoes and pearl millet.     

甜瓜抗病基因的研究进展及其应用前景

甜瓜是世界各地都广泛栽培的重要经济作物,其营养丰富味道美好而备受人们的喜爱。随着甜瓜种质资源商品化,甜瓜病虫害扩散蔓延迅速,已成为影响甜瓜产量和品质的主要因素。本文概述了对甜瓜生产和品质危害较严重的主要病虫害的发病特征、蔓延情况及相应抗性基因的研究进展,目前已有50个甜瓜抗病基因被认知。另外对与抗病性状相关基因的定位、分子标记、分离克隆、甜瓜基因遗传图谱等研究现状进行了总结分析,综合阐述了甜瓜抗病基因在实践中的使用价值和应用前景：利用甜瓜抗病基因的分子标记进行甜瓜抗病育种辅助选择,将抗病基因转化感病品种进行抗病分子育种。