Abstract
Key message
ClLOX, is located on chromosome 2 and encodes a lipoxygenase gene, which induced watermelon powdery mildew resistance by inhibiting pathogen spread.
Abstract
Powdery mildew is one of the most severe fungal diseases reducing yield and quality of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus L.) and other cucurbit crops. Genes responsible for powdery mildew resistance in watermelon are highly valuable. In this study, we first identified the QTL pm-lox for powdery mildew resistance in watermelon, located within a 0.93 Mb interval of chromosome 2, via XP-GWAS method using two F2 populations. The F2:3 families from one of the F2 populations were then used for fine-mapping the pm-lox locus into a 9,883 bp physical region between 29,581,906 and 29,591,789, containing only two annotated genes. Of these, only ClG42_02g0161300 showed a significant differential expression between the resistant and susceptible lines after powdery mildew inoculation based on RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and qRT-PCR analysis, and is designated ClLOX. Derived Cleaved Amplified Polymorphic Sequence (dCAPs) markers were developed and validated. In addition, our tests showed that the resistance was anti-spread rather than anti-infection of the pathogen. This study identified a new resistance gene (ClLOX), provided insights into the mechanism of powdery mildew resistance, and developed a molecular marker for watermelon breeding.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Provincial Technology Innovation Program of Shandong, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Agricultural Breeding Special Project (NXNYYZ202001), Ningbo Science and Technology Innovation Project (2021Z132), Weifang Seed Innovation Group, Modern Agro–industry Technology Research System (CARS–25), National Natural Science Foundation of China (32302558), Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20220305), Jiangsu Seed Industry Revitalization Competitive Project (JBGS (2021) 072), and Jiangsu Agricultural Innovation of New Cultivars (PZCZ201717).
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YD and XL performed most of the experiments, analyzed the data and drafted the manuscript. SL performed bioinformatics analysis. XNL, XL, LX and TB performed disease evaluation and phenotyping. BX and YS conducted the field experiments. XZ, YS and GL modified the manuscript. YD, XZ, YS and GL designed and directed the entire study. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
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Deng, Y., Liu, X., Liu, S. et al. Fine mapping of ClLOX, a QTL for powdery mildew resistance in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus L.). Theor Appl Genet 137, 51 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-023-04520-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-023-04520-w