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Towards identifying pathogenic determinants of the chickpea pathogen Ascochyta rabiei

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Abstract

Ascochyta blight is a serious disease of cool-season grain legumes (chickpea, faba bean, lentil and pea) caused by fungal species of the anamorphic genus Ascochyta and related genera. Despite extensive studies on the biology, ecology, epidemiology and management of the disease, little is known about the pathogenic determinants of these pathogens. This research aims at using Ascochyta rabiei as a model for the genus in investigating genetic factors of pathogenicity, with the ultimate goal of elucidating pathogenic mechanisms. Three advances were made: (1) insertional mutants with altered pathogenicity were identified through in vivo screening, and genomic regions adjacent to the insertion sites in selected mutants were determined; (2) a phage library of A. rabiei genomic DNA was constructed, and the library was estimated to provide complete coverage of the A. rabiei genome. This library was used successfully to recover clones with DNA adjacent to insertional mutation sites and to isolate specific genes; (3) DNA probes specific for an acyl-CoA ligase (cps1) and a polyketide synthase gene (pks1) were developed and library clones containing the corresponding genomic regions were identified from the phage library. These advances provide the foundation and necessary tools for experimentation of ectopic complementation assays and targeted mutagenesis to elucidate the genetic mechanisms of pathogenicity of A. rabiei.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA

    David White

  2. USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Grain Legume Genetics and Physiology Research Unit, and Department of Plant Pathology, Washington State University, 303 Johnson Hall, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA

    Weidong Chen

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  1. David White
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  2. Weidong Chen
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Correspondence to Weidong Chen.

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White, D., Chen, W. Towards identifying pathogenic determinants of the chickpea pathogen Ascochyta rabiei . Eur J Plant Pathol 119, 3–12 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-007-9122-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-007-9122-z

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