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Seminar: James Duduit: Functional Characterization of a Candidate Bacterial Wilt Resistance Gene in Tomato
November 21, 2022 | 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Date: Monday, November 21, 2022
Time: 3:00 pm
Speaker: James Duduit, PhD Introduction Seminar
Title: Functional Characterization of a Candidate Bacterial Wilt Resistance Gene in Tomato
Host: Dr. Wusheng Liu
Location (Hybrid): 121 Kilgore Hall
Zoom link: https://ncsu.zoom.us/j/98898629994?pwd=VWRTa0RTWXlreElZUGVVVUdxbVA4dz09
Meeting ID: 988 9862 9994
Passcode: 795851
Abstract:
Bacterial wilt is an economically devastating plant pathogen which causes rapid death and has been widely distributed around the world. Ralstonia solacearum (Rs) is a soil-borne bacteria which infects xylem, causing bacterial wilt in tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) and many other economically significant crops. There are few cost effective and efficient methods of controlling Rs once it has infected a field. The most cost effective and efficient means of control in tomato fields is through growing Rs resistant cultivars, however acceptable Rs resistance in these genotypes are tightly linked to small fruit size, preventing breeding of large-fruited tomato with enhanced Rs resistance. Previous research has indicated a candidate resistance gene from a highly resistant cultivar that is correlated with bacterial wilt qualitative resistance. Our preliminary data indicates that overexpression of the resistance allele in a susceptible background confers resistance comparable to the wild-type resistant allele. There is ongoing work to generate susceptible allele overexpressing lines and knockout lines from susceptible and resistant cultivars. We hypothesize that the candidate gene may confer resistance through protein sequence differences or differential gene expression levels. We also hypothesize that resistant allele knockouts will be susceptible to Rs, indicating the candidate gene is the primary factor of resistance. The functional characterization of this gene could enable the elucidation of the Rs resistance mechanism in tomato and potentially lead to identification and utilization of other bacterial wilt resistance genes for other affected crops.