A novel sensitive method to evaluate potato germplasm for bacterial wilt resistance using a luminescent Ralstonia solanacearum reporter strain

Several breeding programs are under way to introduce resistance to bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum in solanaceous crops. The lack of screening methods allowing easy measurement of pathogen colonization and the inability to detect latent (i.e., symptomless) infections are major limita...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Zuluaga, Andrea P., Ferreira, Virginia, Pianzzola, María Julia, Siri, María Inés, Coll, Núria S., Valls i Matheu, Marc
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2013
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/58863
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/58863
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Bacteris fitopatògens
Patologia vegetal
Bacteriologia agrícola
Phytopatogenic bacteria
Plant pathology
Agricultural bacteriology
Descripción
Sumario:Several breeding programs are under way to introduce resistance to bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum in solanaceous crops. The lack of screening methods allowing easy measurement of pathogen colonization and the inability to detect latent (i.e., symptomless) infections are major limitations when evaluating resistance to this disease in plant germplasm. We describe a new method to study the interaction between R. solanacearum and potato germplasm that overcomes these restrictions. The R. solanacearum UY031 was genetically modified to constitutively generate light from a synthetic luxCDABE operon stably inserted in its chromosome. Colonization of this reporter strain on different potato accessions was followed using life imaging. Bacterial detection in planta by this nondisruptive system correlated with the development of wilting symptoms. In addition, we demonstrated that quantitative detection of the recombinant strain using a luminometer can identify latent infections on symptomless potato plants. We have developed a novel, unsophisticated, and accurate method for high-throughput evaluation of pathogen colonization in plant populations. We applied this method to compare the behavior of potato accessions with contrasting resistance to R. solanacearum. This new system will be especially useful to detect latency in symptomless parental lines before their inclusion in long-term breeding programs for disease resistance.