High-density genetic mapping for coffee leaf rust resistance.

Coffee leaf rust caused by the fungus Hemileia vastatrix causes considerable economic losses for coffee producers. Although agrochemical products can provide sufficient disease control, the use of resistant cultivars is a safer alternative. This resistance may be constrained by one or a few genetic factors, mainly those found in material originating from interspecific hybrids. In this study, the genetic analysis of an F2 population consisting of 224 plants derived from a crossing of Híbrido de Timor UFV 427-15 (resistant) with Catuaí Amarelo IAC 30 (susceptible) showed that a dominant gene confers the resistance of coffee to race II of H. vastatrix. From a genetic map saturated with 25 amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers linked to the resistance gene, we developed a high-density genetic map with six sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers delimiting a chromosomal region of 9.45 cM and flanking the dominant gene at 0.7 and 0.9 cM. This is the first saturated and high-density genetic map obtained from this region containing the resistance gene. The results of this study are of great importance for the introduction of molecular markers for marker-assisted selection; they will also facilitate studies related to the cloning, structure, and function of race-specific genes involved in the resistance of coffee trees to H. vastatrix

Obtenção de marcador molecular potencialmente envolvido com a resistência do cafeeiro à ferrugem.

O Projeto Brasileiro do Genoma Café (PBGC) gerou um banco de dados contendo mais de 200.000 ESTs (Expressed Sequence Tags). Em trabalho preliminar, o banco foi minerado por meio de análise in silico e identificaram-se várias seqüências potencialmente associadas à resistência do cafeeiro a patógenos. Visando verificar o envolvimento destas seqüências com a resistência do cafeeiro à ferrugem foram desenhados oligonucleotídeos iniciadores (primers) que amplificaram as seqüências mineradas. Noventa pares de oligonucleotídeos iniciadores específicos foram desenhados utilizando o programa computacional Primer3. A estabilidade dos oligonucleotídeos foi verificada por meio do programa PrimerSelect®. Diferentes concentrações dos componentes da reação de PCR foram analisadas. Para a amplificação no termociclador, foram avaliadas diferentes combinações de tempo e temperatura, incluindo touchdown PCR. Utilizando as condições de reação e amplificação otimizadas, 40 iniciadores foram testados em 12 genótipos resistentes e 12 susceptíveis a H. vastatrix. Destes, 29 resultaram em bandas únicas e bem definidas, sendo um polimórfico. Os demais 50 estão sendo testados por PCR. Este trabalho permitiu obter, até o momento, um marcador molecular polimórfico entre os dois grupos de indivíduos resistentes e susceptíveis. Para confirmar a possível ligação e seu potencial, o marcador está sendo testado em diferentes populações do Programa de Melhoramento da UFV/EPAMIG

Obtenção de ESTs potencialmente relacionadas à resistência do cafeeiro à ferrugem por meio de análise in silico.

A partir das informações geradas no Projeto Brasileiro do Genoma Café (PBGC) foram identificadas, por meio de análise in silico, seqüências potencialmente envolvidas na resistência a Hemileia vastatrix Berk. et Br. presentes nos cafeeiros. Foram usadas diferentes estratégias para minerar as seqüências de interesse. Inicialmente, palavras-chave que correspondem a termos relacionados aos mecanismos de resistência de plantas a patógenos foram obtidas da literatura e utilizadas como ?iscas? para mineração dos dados. Com o auxílio de ferramentas disponíveis na plataforma de bioinformática do PBGC, criaram-se projetos englobando as ESTs (Expressed Sequence Tags) relacionadas a cada uma destas palavras. Outra estratégia utilizada foi a busca por similaridades entre algumas seqüências envolvidas com a resistência do cafeeiro a doenças já publicadas com as seqüências do PBGC, por meio do algoritmo BLAST. Utilizou-se, também, o ?Electronic Northern?, uma ferramenta desenvolvida pelo Laboratório de Genômica e Expressão (LGE). A mineração, usando as três estratégias, identificou 8.968 seqüências do PBGC. O envolvimento ou ligação destas seqüências com genes de resistência à ferrugem do cafeeiro será confirmado, em trabalhos futuros, utilizando marcadores moleculares e técnicas de genômica funcional

Localização de marcador molecular derivado de EST potencialmente associado ao domínio LRR em mapa genético de Coffea arabica.

O Projeto Brasileiro do Genoma Café (PBGC) gerou um banco de dados de 200.000 ESTs (Expressed Sequence Tags). O banco de dados foi minerado por meio de análise in silico e 12009 seqüências potencialmente envolvidas na resistência do cafeeiro a doenças foram identificadas. A partir dessas seqüências foram desenhados 40 oligonucleotídeos, iniciadores específicos para amplificar seqüências do DNA genômico do cafeeiro. As condições de reação e amplificação dos iniciadores sintetizados foram ajustadas. Vinte e nove iniciadores amplificaram fragmentos de aproximadamente 400 pb, exibindo bandas únicas e bem definidas, e apenas um deles foi polimórfico entre os indivíduos resistentes e susceptíveis. O iniciador CARF 005 amplificou um fragmento nos 154 indivíduos F2 da população H464-2. Essa análise permitiu verificar o posicionamento desse marcador no grupo de ligação 9, a 36,2 cM do marcador K13c no mapa genético de Coffea arabica previamente desenvolvido com marcadores RAPD

The population structure of Hemileia vastatrix in Brazil inferred from AFLP

Efforts to obtain durable resistant cultivars to coffee leaf rust have a long history of disappointment because of the lack of information on the Hemileia vastatrix evolutionary potential. In this study, the AFLP marker was used to analyze the genetic structure of a field population of H. vastatrix from different coffee genotypes cultivated in a wide geographic region of Brazil’s main production areas. A total of 91 isolates were sampled from genotypes of Coffea arabica, C. canephora and Híbrido de Timor/Icatu derivatives. Each isolate exhibited unique multilocus AFLP genotypes with no identical isolates obtained from the same geographical and host origins. This finding was corroborated by a small correlation between genetic similarity and geographic distance (R xy  = 0.31, P = 0.23). The analyses showed a low genetic differentiation (G ST  = 0.026) between the populations defined by a host and AMOVA analysis, most of the genetic variance (99.56 %) was attributed to differences within populations. In addition, based on the index of association (IA), the random mating possibility was not rejected (IA = 0.225, P = 0.123) for the population of H. vastatrix derived from C. canephora. This result suggested that H. vastatrix in Brazil behaves as a large undifferentiated population with a high level of genotypic diversity that is unstructured with regard to its geographic and host origins

Climate favourability to leaf rust in Conilon coffee

The Brazil is the second largest producer of Conilon coffee (Coffea canephora), being the state of Espírito Santo responsible for producing 9.7 million bags of Conilon coffee. The biology of Hemileia vastatrix, etiologic agent of leaf rust, the main disease of this culture, is not well understood under the environmental conditions of Espírito Santo, Brazil. This study determined the ideal temperature and leaf wetness ranges for in vitro germination and infection of leaf discs in this pathosystem. For this, regression analyses with differents temperature and leaf wetness ranges were performed. The results showed that a climate characterized by mild mean temperatures (between 21.6 °C and 23.6 °C) with foliar wetness associated with high relative humidity (>80 %) is the most favorable condition for the infection of Conilon coffee by H. vastatrix. The knowledge of the optimal temperature and moisture conditions for the infection can also be useful for developing systems to predict the occurrence of the disease in C. canephora from Brazil

Genetic diversity and structure of Hemileia vastatrix populations on Coffea spp.

Coffee leaf rust is the most limiting disease for coffee cultivation in Brazil. Despite its importance, relatively little is known about the genetic diversity of Hemileia vastatrix, the rust causal agent. In this work, the DNA from 112 monopustule isolates from different geographic locations and coffee genotypes were analysed by amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP). The objectives were to assess the influence of the host and geographic origin on the diversity and population differentiation in H. vastatrix. The fungal population showed a low level of genotypic diversity. Gene diversity (h) was 0027 and the hypothesis of random mating in the total population was rejected, but evidence for recombination was found for two subpopulations (São Paulo and Parana). The analysis of molecular variance revealed that 90% of the genetic distribution of the pathogen occurs among isolates within the subpopulation (states or host of origin). There was no correlation between geographic and genetic distance (r = 0024, P = 074), which together with the high number of migrants and the low degree of differentiation in populations of H. vastatrix, is consistent with the fact that the inoculum is probably easily dispersed by wind over long distances, allowing dispersal of the pathogen among coffee growing areas in Brazil. Therefore, it is difficult to predict the durability of resistant sources to coffee rust. The recommendation for the breeding programmes is thus to incorporate multigenic resistance as a control strategy

High-density genetic mapping for coffee leaf rust resistance.

Coffee leaf rust caused by the fungus Hemileia vastatrix causes considerable economic losses for coffee producers. Although agrochemical products can provide sufficient disease control, the use of resistant cultivars is a safer alternative. This resistance may be constrained by one or a few genetic factors, mainly those found in material originating from interspecific hybrids. In this study, the genetic analysis of an F 2 population consisting of 224 plants derived from a crossing of Híbrido de Timor UFV 427-15 (resistant) with Catuaí Amarelo IAC 30 (susceptible) showed that a dominant gene confers the resistance of coffee to race II of H. vastatrix. From a genetic map saturated with 25 amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers linked to the resistance gene, we developed a high-density genetic map with six sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers delimiting a chromosomal region of 9.45 cM and flanking the dominant gene at 0.7 and 0.9 cM. This is the first saturated and high-density genetic map obtained from this region containing the resistance gene. The results of this study are of great importance for the introduction of molecular markers for marker-assisted selection; they will also facilitate studies related to the cloning, structure, and function of race-specific genes involved in the resistance of coffee trees to H. vastatrix