Two sugar beet chitinase genes, BvSP2 and BvSE2, analysed with SNP Amplifluor-like markers, are highly expressed after Fusarium root rot inoculations and field susceptibility trial

Raushan Yerzhebayeva; Alfiya Abekova; Kerimkul Konysbekov; Sholpan Bastaubayeva; Aynur Kabdrakhmanova; Aiman Absattarova; Yuri Shavrukov

doi:10.7717/peerj.5127

Two sugar beet chitinase genes, BvSP2 and BvSE2, analysed with SNP Amplifluor-like markers, are highly expressed after Fusarium root rot inoculations and field susceptibility trial

PeerJ. 2018 Jun 27:6:e5127. doi: 10.7717/peerj.5127. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Raushan Yerzhebayeva¹, Alfiya Abekova¹, Kerimkul Konysbekov², Sholpan Bastaubayeva¹, Aynur Kabdrakhmanova³, Aiman Absattarova⁴, Yuri Shavrukov⁵

Affiliations

¹ Kazakh Research Institute of Agriculture and Plant Growing, Almalybak, Almaty District, Kazakhstan.
² Taldykorgan Branch, Kazakh Research Institute of Agriculture and Plant Growing, Taldykorgan, Almaty District, Kazakhstan.
³ I. Zhansugurov Zhetysu State University, Taldykorgan, Almaty District, Kazakhstan.
⁴ National Agricultural Research Education Centre, Astana, Kazakhstan.
⁵ College of Science and Engineering, School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University of South Australia, Bedford Park, SA, Australia.

Abstract

Background: The pathogens from Fusarium species can cause Fusarium root rot (RR) and other diseases in plant species including sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.), and they have a strong negative impact on sugar beet yield and quality.

Methods: A total of 22 sugar beet breeding lines were evaluated for the symptoms of RR after inoculation with Fusarium oxysporum Sch., isolate No. 5, and growth in a field trial. Two candidate genes for RR resistance, BvSP2 and BvSE2, encoding chitinases Class IV and III, respectively, were previously identified in sugar beet, and used for genotyping using modern Amplifluor-like single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping approach. The qPCR expression analysis was used to verify responses of the candidate genes for RR infections.

Results: A strong association of two SNP markers for BvSP2 and BvSE2 with resistance to RR in sugar beet was found in our study. Very high BvSP2 expression (100-fold compared to Controls) was observed in three RR resistant accessions (2182, 2236 and KWS2320) 14 days after inoculation which returned to the control level on Day 18. RR sensitive breeding line 2210 showed a delay in mRNA level, reaching maximal expression of BvSP2 18 days after inoculation. The gene BvSE2, showed a strong expression level in leaf samples from the infected field trial only in the breeding line 2236, which showed symptoms of RR, and this may be a response to other strains of F. oxysporum.

Keywords: Chitinase; Fusarium oxysporum Sch.; Root rot; SE2 and SP2 genes; SNP Amplifluor-like markers; Sugar beet.

Grants and funding

This research was supported by Grant 4785/GF4, the Program 217 “Development of Science,” Sub-program 102 “Grant Research Funding,” from the Ministry of Education and Science, Kazakhstan. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.