The fire blight resistance QTL of Malus fusca (Mfu10) is affected but not broken down by the highly virulent Canadian Erwinia amylovora strain E2002A

Recently, Mfu10 - the major QTL for resistance to fire blight was reported on linkage group 10 of Malus fusca which could explain about 66 % of the phenotypic variation in a population artificially inoculated with Erwinia amylovora strain Ea222_JKI. In the meantime, it had been reported that the resistance of the fire blight QTL of Malus × robusta 5 (Mr5), which could explain 80 % of phenotypic variation is strain specific and is completely overcome by the highly virulent strain Ea3049 originating from Canada (E2002A). In contrast to Mr5, the M. fusca donor of Mfu10 is only very slightly affected by this highly virulent strain. In this short communication, we prove that this particular strain is not able to overcome the resistance of M. fusca but affects Mfu10. The same F1 progenies, derived from a cross between the resistant M. fusca and the susceptible apple cultivar, Idared, used to detect Mfu10, were used for phenotyping with Ea3049. Although the mean shoot necrosis of all progenies was 62.4 %, marker-phenotype association determined by Kruskal-Wallis analysis showed that markers on LG10 correlate significantly to resistance levels with SSR markers FR481A and FRM4 having the highest K values of 37.1 and 36.7, respectively. Interval mapping and multiple QTL mapping (MQM) performed with MAP-QTL®, showed that Mfu10 could still be detected on the same position on LG10, but only explaining 41.2 % of phenotypic variation. The implications of these results are discusse

Further insights into Malus fusca fire blight resistance

The apple wild species accession Malus fusca MAL0045 had been found to be resistant to fire blight in artificial inoculation trials with Erwinia amylovora strain Ea222_ JKI. Consequently, using a population derived by crossing MAL0045 with Idared, the corresponding fire blight resistance locus of M. fusca (Mfu10) was mapped on chromosome 10 explaining up to 66% of phenotypic variation at a logarithm of the odd (LOD) ratio of 31.0 with the strain Ea222_JKI. Moreover, the very aggressive strain Ea3049 only minimally affected MAL0045 but significantly affected the population although could not overcome the resistance of Mfu10. To further understand the resistance mechanism of M. fusca, we evaluated resistance of the original mapping population, comprised of 134 individuals, to E. amylovora strain ZYRKD3-1 which causes the breakdown of the resistance of M.×robusta 5 (Mr5) and the Mr5 fire blight resistance QTL on LG3. Our results showed that the major QTL of M. fusca on LG10 could still be detected at the same exact position with a higher effect on fire blight resistance, indicating that ZYRKD3-1 has no effect on Mfu10, although the mean percent lesion length of the population was almost doubled compared with Ea222_JK

Identification of a major quantitative trait locus for resistance to fire blight in the wild apple species Malus fusca

Fire blight, caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Erwinia amylovora, is the most important bacterial disease affecting apple (Malus × domestica) and pear (Pyrus communis) production. The use of antibiotic treatment, though effective to some degree, is forbidden or strictly regulated in many European countries, and hence an alternative means of control is essential. The planting of fire blight-resistant cultivars seems to be a highly feasible strategy. In this study, we explored a segregating population derived from a cross between the wild apple species Malus fusca and the M. × domestica cultivar Idared. F1 progenies used for mapping were artificially inoculated with Erwinia amylovora strain Ea222_JKI at a concentration of 109 cfu/ml in three different years. The averages of percentage lesion length of all replicates of each genotype were used as numerical traits for statistical analysis. A Kruskal–Wallis analysis was used to determine marker–phenotype association and revealed a linkage group with Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) markers significantly linked with fire blight. After locating the positions of the DArT markers on the Golden Delicious genome, simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were developed from chromosome 10 to replace the DArT markers and to determine the quantitative trait locus (QTL) region. Multiple QTL mapping (MQM) revealed a strong QTL (Mfu10) on linkage group 10 of M. fusca explaining about 65.6 % of the phenotypic variation. This is the first report on a fire blight resistance QTL of M. fusc

Vergleichende genetische Kartierung der Feuerbrandresistenz bei Malus sp. = Comparative genetic mapping of resistance to fire blight in Malus sp.

Für die vergleichende Kartierung von Feuerbrandresistenz bei Malus wurden vier Populationen bearbeitet, die als einen Elter einen Donor für Feuerbrandresistenz und als zweiten Elter die anfällige Sorte ‘Idared’ hatten. Als Donoren für Widerstandsfähigkeit wurden definierte Abstammungen der Wildarten M. baccata, M. fusca, M. ×robusta und die widerstandsfähige Pillnitzer Apfelsorte ‘Rewena’ genutzt. Die Phänotypisierung der Populationen erfolgte in unterschiedlichen Jahren durch Inokulation von vegetativen Trieben mit dem Erwinia amylovora-Isolat Ea222 und anderen definierten Isolaten unter Gewächshausbedingungen. Der Befall der Triebe wurde als Befallsrate, dem Verhältnis der befallenen Trieblänge zur Gesamttrieblänge, ermittelt. Je nach Isolat und Population variierte die durchschnittliche Befallsrate zwischen 10 bis 82%. Die Genotypisierung der Nachkommen zur Erstellung genetischer Karten erfolgte mit Mikrosatelliten-, SNP- und DArT-Markern. Die genetischen Kopplungskarten wurden mittels Joinmap 4.0 und die Resistenz gegenüber Feuerbrand mit MapQTL5.0 kartiert. Major-QTLs konnten für M. ×robusta auf Kopplungsgruppe 3, für M. baccata auf Kopplungsgruppe 12 und für M. fusca auf Kopplungsgruppe 10 detektiert werden. Während die Feuerbrand-QTLs von M. ×robusta 5 und M. fusca je nach Jahr bis zu ca. 87% der phänotypischen Varianz erklären können, erklärt der QTL von M. baccata nur ca. 45%, was die Existenz eines zweiten QTL nahe legt. Für die resistente Sorte ‘Rewena’ konnte kein QTL detektiert werden. Mit den Markern, die im Bereich der detektierten QTLs liegen, kann auf Resistenz gegenüber Feuerbrand selektiert werden. Damit ist eine Kombinierung unterschiedlicher Feuerbrandresistenz-QTLs möglich. Auf dieser Basis können zukünftig Sorten gezüchtet werden, die dauerhaft widerstandsfähig gegenüber Feuerbrand sind, um diese dann dem deutschen Obstbau zur Verfügung stellen zu könne

Mapping of fire blight resistance in Malus ×robusta 5 flowers following artificial inoculation

Background Although the most common path of infection for fire blight, a severe bacterial disease on apple, is via host plant flowers, quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for fire blight resistance to date have exclusively been mapped following shoot inoculation. It is not known whether the same mechanism underlies flower and shoot resistance. Results We report the detection of a fire blight resistance QTL following independent artificial inoculation of flowers and shoots on two F1 segregating populations derived from crossing resistant Malus ×robusta 5 (Mr5) with susceptible ‘Idared’ and ‘Royal Gala’ in experimental orchards in Germany and New Zealand, respectively. QTL mapping of phenotypic datasets from artificial flower inoculation of the ‘Idared’ × Mr5 population with Erwinia amylovora over several years, and of the ‘Royal Gala’ × Mr5 population in a single year, revealed a single major QTL controlling floral fire blight resistance on linkage group 3 (LG3) of Mr5. This QTL corresponds to the QTL on LG3 reported previously for the ‘Idared’ × Mr5 and an ‘M9’ × Mr5 population following shoot inoculation in the glasshouse. Interval mapping of phenotypic data from shoot inoculations of subsets from both flower resistance populations re-confirmed that the resistance QTL is in the same position on LG3 of Mr5 as that for flower inoculation. These results provide strong evidence that fire blight resistance in Mr5 is controlled by a major QTL on LG3, independently of the mode of infection, rootstock and environment. Conclusions This study demonstrates for the first time that resistance to fire blight caused by Erwinia amylovora is independent of the mode of inoculation at least in Malus ×robusta 5