ARS | Publication request: EXPLORING GENE ANALOGUES AS MARKERS FOR DISEASE RESISTANCE: SEQUENCE ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION

Submitted to: American Society of Sugar Cane Technologists
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: May 1, 2006
Publication Date: July 1, 2006
Citation: Glynn, N.C., Comstock, J.C., Sood, S.G., Dang, P.M., Chaparro, J. 2006. Exploring gene analogues as markers for disease resistance: sequence isolation and characterization. American Society of Sugar Cane Technologists 26:46 2006

Technical Abstract: Selecting the disease resistance is a constant challenge in sugarcane breeding. The evaluation of clones for disease reaction is lengthy and constrained by resources. Clone selection using markers for disease resistance would make the process more efficient, however, useful markers need to be identified. Available molecular approaches allow the advances made in other crops to be transferred and applied to sugarcane offering unprecedented opportunities for selecting disease resistance through marker assisted selection. Here we review the progress made in isolating plant disease resistance genes and their analogues in other crops and report their application to sugarcane. Sugarcane clone, US 01-1158 was used because it is resistant to Sugarcane Yellow Leaf Virus infection and is moderately resistant to "Puccinia melanocephala", the causal agent of brown rust. DNA isolated from US 01-1158 was amplified using degenerate primers that target conserved portions of NBS-LRR resistance genes and kinase genes characterized in other crops. The amplification products were sequenced and the nucleotide sequences assembled into contiguous sequence alignments 9Contigs). A sequence consensus of the contigs were compared to sequences accessioned in molecular databases revealing significant similarities to previously accessioned NBS-LRR and kinase gene analogues associated with disease resistance. This is the first step in a process of exploiting the potential of gene analogues associated with known resistance genes in sugarcane cultivar selection.