title: Functional characterization of the powdery mildew susceptibility gene SmMLO1 in eggplant (Solanum melongena L.).
abstract: Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is one of the most important vegetables among the Solanaceae and can be a host to fungal species causing powdery mildew (PM) disease. Specific homologs of the plant Mildew Locus O (MLO) gene family are PM susceptibility factors, as their loss of function results in a recessive form of resistance known as mlo resistance. In a previous work, we isolated the eggplant MLO homolog SmMLO1. SmMLO1 is closely related to MLO susceptibility genes characterized in other plant species. However, it displays a peculiar non-synonymous substitution that leads to a T → M amino acid change at protein position 422, in correspondence of the MLO calmodulin-binding domain. In this study, we performed the functional characterization of SmMLO1. Transgenic overexpression of SmMLO1 in a tomato mlo mutant compromised resistance to the tomato PM pathogen Oidium neolycopersici, thus indicating that SmMLO1 is a PM susceptibility factor in eggplant. PM susceptibility was also restored by the transgenic expression of a synthetic gene, named s-SmMLO1, encoding a protein identical to SmMLO1, except for the presence of T at position 422. This indicates that the T → M polymorphism does not affect the protein role as PM susceptibility factor. Overall, the results of this work are of interest for the functional characterization of MLO proteins and the introduction of PM resistance in eggplant using reverse genetics.
authors.affiliation: Wageningen UR Plant Breeding, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands.|Section of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Department of Plant, Soil and Food Science, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Via Amendola 165/A, 70126, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bracuto
authors.affiliation: Wageningen UR Plant Breeding, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Appiano
authors.affiliation: Section of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Department of Plant, Soil and Food Science, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Via Amendola 165/A, 70126, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ricciardi
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, İzmir Food Control Laboratory, Üniversite Cd. No: 45, 35100, Bornova, İzmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Deniz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Göl
authors.affiliation: Wageningen UR Plant Breeding, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Richard G F
authors.initials: RGF
authors.lastname: Visser
authors.affiliation: Wageningen UR Plant Breeding, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands. bai.yuling@wur.nl.
authors.forename: Yuling
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Section of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Department of Plant, Soil and Food Science, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Via Amendola 165/A, 70126, Bari, Italy. stefano.pavan@uniba.it.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pavan
mesh_terms: D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D001203:Ascomycota / Q000472:pathogenicity; D001665:Binding Sites; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000235:genetics*; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000235:genetics; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D032323:Solanum melongena / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins
keywords: Eggplant; MLO; Plant breeding; Powdery mildew; Resistance