Pathogen corruption and site-directed recombination at a plant disease resistance gene cluster

Genome Res. 2008 Dec;18(12):1918-23. doi: 10.1101/gr.078766.108. Epub 2008 Aug 21.

Abstract

The Pc locus of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) determines dominant sensitivity to a host-selective toxin produced by the fungal pathogen Periconia circinata. The Pc region was cloned by a map-based approach and found to contain three tandemly repeated genes with the structures of nucleotide binding site-leucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR) disease resistance genes. Thirteen independent Pc-to-pc mutations were analyzed, and each was found to remove all or part of the central gene of the threesome. Hence, this central gene is Pc. Most Pc-to-pc mutations were associated with unequal recombination. Eight recombination events were localized to different sites in a 560-bp region within the approximately 3.7-kb NBS-LRR genes. Because any unequal recombination located within the flanking NBS-LRR genes would have removed Pc, the clustering of cross-over events within a 560-bp segment indicates that a site-directed recombination process exists that specifically targets unequal events to generate LRR diversity in NBS-LRR loci.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Ascomycota / pathogenicity*
  • DNA, Plant / genetics
  • DNA, Plant / isolation & purification
  • Gene Library
  • Gene Rearrangement
  • Genes, Plant*
  • Immunity, Innate*
  • Multigene Family
  • Mutagenesis, Site-Directed
  • Plant Diseases / genetics*
  • Recombination, Genetic*
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Sorghum / genetics
  • Sorghum / metabolism

Substances

  • DNA, Plant