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Title: Late Blight Resistance of RB Transgenic Potato Lines

Author
item KUHL, JOSEPH
item ZARKA, KELLY - MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
item COOMBS, JOSEPH - MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
item KIRK, WILLIAM - MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
item DOUCHES, DAVID - MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/5/2007
Publication Date: 11/20/2007
Citation: Kuhl, J.C., Zarka, K., Coombs, J., Kirk, W.W., Douches, D.S. 2007. Late Blight Resistance of RB Transgenic Potato Lines. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science. 132(6):783-789.

Interpretive Summary: Late blight of potato, caused by Phytophthora infestans, is a devastating disease attacking potato plant foliage and tubers decreasing yield and storage quality. The late blight resistant gene RB was previously identified from a wild potato relative. The RB gene has been shown to provide a wide range of resistance to potato plants in U.S. and Mexican field trials. We inserted the RB gene into a susceptible potato breeding line. A total of six transgenic lines were evaluated for resistance to Phytophthora infestans using laboratory and field tests. Three of the lines showed increased resistance under field conditions and variable results in laboratory evaluations using different P. infestans isolates. Not all the lines containing RB were resistant. Field and laboratory tests are required to determine if resistance exists in RB transformed lines. Transfer of RB into additional lines with and without existing resistance could provide increased protection to late blight of potato.

Technical Abstract: Late blight of potato, caused by Phytophthora infestans, is a devastating disease effecting tuber yield and storage. Recent work has isolated a resistance gene, RB, from the wild species Solanum bulbocastanum. Field evaluations with a RB containing somatic hybrid have reported significant levels of resistance under intense disease pressure in Toluca, Mexico. Transfer of RB into late blight susceptible and resistant lines could provide an important source of resistance. Five transgenic RB lines were recovered from a susceptible Michigan State breeding line MSE149-5Y. Molecular characterization alone did not predict which lines were resistant. Three of the RB transformed MSE149-5Y lines showed increased resistance under field conditions and differential results in detached leaf evaluations using multiple isolates individually (US1, US6, US8, US10 and US14). Transfer of RB into additional lines with and without resistance could provide increased protection to late blight.