Read the
magazine
story to find out more. |
ARS computational
biologist Angela Baldo conducted genetic surveys of cherries, red raspberries
and apples and found that all three fruits share key genetic traits for disease
resistance. Click the image for more information about
it.
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Helping Fruit Fight Back
By
Ann Perry April
8, 2009
Studies by Agricultural Research
Service scientists (ARS) indicate that cherries, red raspberries and apples
share key genetic traits for disease resistance. These findings could help
plant breeders develop more robust produce varieties that can better withstand
the pathogens that plague them.
ARS computational biologist
Angela
Baldo conducted genetic surveys of the three fruits to find markers for
locating resistance genes that battle diseases and other stresses. Baldo works
at the ARS
Plant
Genetic Resources Unit in Geneva, N.Y.
Cherries, apples and red raspberries are all members of the
Rosaceae plant family and contain resistance genes found in many other
plants. Working with several colleagues, Baldo found 75 markers for resistance
genes in red raspberry. The majority of the markers were unique, but they were
anywhere from 50 to 87 percent similar to the markers from other
Rosaceae species.
One of the markers was linked genetically to Phytophthora
root rot resistance. This discovery might someday help plant breeders develop
hardier and more marketable varieties of red raspberry.
Baldo also contributed to the identification of 90 resistance gene
markers from sweet and sour cherry cultivars with different levels of
resistance to cherry leaf spot and powdery mildew. The markers were compared
with other Rosaceous markers that researchers have already linked with
resistance to a range of pathogens.
The preliminary studies suggest there may be similarities between
peach resistance gene markers linked to sharka, also known as plum pox, and
cherry resistance gene markers linked to powdery mildew. If additional research
confirms these findings, they could support more efficient methods for mapping
resistance genes.
Baldo and colleagues also helped find three new groups of resistance
gene markers in some 300 wild apple accessions. Plans are under way to map
these gene markers and assess their links to regions of the apple genome that
convey resistance to fire blight, apple scab and powdery mildew.
Read
more about this research in the April 2009 issue of Agricultural Research
magazine.
ARS is the principal intramural scientific research agency of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture.