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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Kearneysville, West Virginia » Appalachian Fruit Research Laboratory » Innovative Fruit Production, Improvement, and Protection » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #216946

Title: Using functional genomics to develop tools to breed fire blight resistant apples

Author
item Norelli, John
item Bassett, Carole
item FARRELL, JR., ROBERT - PENN STATE UNIVERSITY
item Baldo, Angela
item MALNOY, MICKAEL - ASMA RES CENTRE, ITALY
item BOREJSZA-WYSOCKA, EWA - CORNELL UNIVERSITY
item Lalli, Donna
item KORBAN, SCHUYLER - UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
item GARDINER, SUSAN - HORTRESEARCH, NEW ZEALAND
item Wisniewski, Michael
item CELTON, JEAN-MARC - HORTRESEARCH, NEW ZEALAND
item ALDWINCKLE, HERB - CORNELL UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Plant and Animal Genome Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/1/2007
Publication Date: 1/12/2008
Citation: Norelli, J.L., Bassett, C.L., Farrell, Jr., R.E., Baldo, A.M., Malnoy, M., Borejsza-Wysocka, E., Lalli, D., Korban, S.S., Gardiner, S.E., Wisniewski, M.E., Celton, J., Aldwinckle, H.S. 2008. Using functional genomics to develop tools to breed fire blight resistant apples. Plant and Animal Genome Conference. P. 455.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Fire blight, caused by the bacterium Erwinia amylovora, is a destructive disease of apple (Malus), pear (Pyrus) and other plants in the rose family (Rosaceae). Suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) using cDNA from pathogen and mock-inoculated samples, and cDNA-AFLP analysis were used to identify over 650 ESTs associated with the response of apple to fire blight challenge. ESTs were ranked for their potential impact on resistance based on bioinformatic analysis and inferences drawn from model systems and the scientific literature. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers derived from highly ranked fire blight EST candidate genes were mapped in a M.9 X Robusta 5 population in which a major QTL for fire blight resistance has been located on Linkage Group 03. Candidate genes were mapped to this QTL, as well as, to the positions corresponding to the location of at least two QTLs reported in other populations (Calenge et al. 2005, Khan et al. 2006). These markers are being evaluated for their potential application in marker assisted selection. The expression of highly ranked ESTs is being determined in resistant (G.41) and susceptible (M.26) apple rootstocks. RNAi mutants of highly ranked ESTs are being selected using a high-efficiency transformation and selection system developed for Malus. This project is supported by a National Research Initiative Competitive Grant 2005-35300-15462 from the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, and by the New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, contract no. C02X0406.