title: Gene-for-gene resistance in Striga-cowpea associations.
abstract: Seven races of Striga gesnerioides parasitic on cowpea, a major food and forage legume in sub-Saharan Africa, have been identified. Race-specific resistance of cowpea to Striga involves a coiled-coil nucleotide binding site leucine-rich repeat domain resistance protein encoded by the RSG3-301 gene. Knockdown of RSG3-301 expression by virus-induced gene silencing in the multirace-resistant cowpea cultivar B301 results in the failure of RSG3-301-silenced plants to mount a hypersensitive response and promotes parasite necrosis when challenged with Striga race SG3, whereas the resistance response to races SG2 and SG5 is unaltered. Our findings indicate that a gene-for-gene resistance mechanism is operating in these unique plant-plant associations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA.
authors.forename: Jianxiong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Timko
mesh_terms: D007887:Fabaceae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000469:parasitology*; D020868:Gene Silencing; D017343:Genes, Plant; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000235:genetics*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000469:parasitology; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D034362:Striga / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins