Isolation and linkage analysis of expressed disease-resistance gene analogues of sugar beet (Beta vulgarisL.)

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Abstract
Sequence conservation among resistance genes (R genes) was exploited to identify 47 R gene analogues (RGAs) from sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.). Using degenerate primers, 11 RGAs were amplified from genomic DNA and 7 from leaf or beet cDNA. Twenty-nine were selected from an EST sequencing program. Twenty-one RGAs contained structures similar to the nucleotide binding site (NBS)--leucine rich repeat (LRR) domain, a motif commonly found in several R genes. Among the remaining RGAs, 19 revealed similarity to the serine (threonine) protein kinase domain of R genes, 4 showed features related to the LRR region of the rice disease resistance gene Xa21, 1 RGA resembled the sugar beet nematode resistance gene Hs1pro-1, and 2 had homologies to other gene products associated with disease resistance. For 20 EST-derived RGAs, transcript levels were compared in leaf and root tissue revealing organ-specific transcription in 7 cases. Thirty-three RGAs were spread over all nine sugar beet chromosomes, except for a cluster of nine closely linked RGAs on chromosome 7. The analysis of linkage between RGAs and loci for rhizomania and Cercospora resistance identified alleles associated with resistance in both cases.