Isolation of a strawberry gene fragment encodinga an actin depolymerizing factor (adf)-like protein from genotypes resistant to Colletotrichum acutatum

ONTIVERO, MARTA I.; MARTÍNEZ ZAMORA, MARTÍN G.; SALAZAR, SERGIO M; DÍAZ RICCI, JUAN C.; CASTAGNARO, ATILIO P

GENOME

NATL RESEARCH COUNCIL CANADA-N R C RESEARCH PRESS

Lugar: Montreal; Año: 2011 vol. 54 p. 1041 - 1044

0831-2796

Actin depolymerizing factors (ADF) have been recently implicated in plant defense against pathogenic fungi, associated with the cytoskeletal rearrangements that contribute to establish an effective barrier against fungal ingress. In this work we identified a DNA fragment corresponding to a part of a gene predicted to encode an ADF-like protein in genotypes of Fragaria ananassa resistant to the fungus Colletotrichum acutatum. Bulked segregant analysis combined with AFLP was used to identify polymorphisms linked to resistance in hybrids derived from the cross between the resistant cultivar ‘Sweet Charlie’ and the susceptible cultivar ‘Pájaro’. The sequence of one out of three polymorphic bands detected showed significant BLASTX hits to ADF proteins from other plants. Two possible exons were identified and bioinformatic analysis revealed the presence of the ADF-H domain with two actin-binding sites, an N-terminal phosphorylation site and a nuclear localization signal. Besides its possible application in strawberry breeding programs, these finding may contribute to investigate the role of ADF in plant resistance against fungi.