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Improving resistance of different apple cultivars using the Rvi6 scab resistance gene in a cisgenic approach based on the Flp/FRT recombinase system

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Abstract

Cisgenic apple plants of two different cultivars were developed by transferring the Rvi6 scab resistance gene of Malus floribunda 821, using a new transformation vector based on the Flp/FRT recombinase system. Transformation experiments on seven different cultivars resulted in 22 transgenic lines for the cultivars ‘Brookfield Baigent’, ‘Mitchgla’, ‘Novajo’, and ‘Pinova’, whereby 16 lines thereof were resistant to Venturia inaequalis strain 104 (race 1). Analysis of the transgenic lines revealed Rvi6 mRNA expression levels comparable to several traditional bred Rvi6 containing cultivars and identified four transgenic lines, harboring a single T-DNA insertion, as suitable for the production of cisgenic lines. The T-DNA insertion site of these lines was determined, and lines were subject to induction of the recombinase system. Two cisgenic lines originating from the cultivars ‘Brookfield Baigent’ and ‘Pinova’ were obtained for which the exact excision of the recombinase cassette was confirmed by sequencing the previously determined T-DNA integration site. Further investigations revealed both cisgenic lines as fully resistant to V. inaequalis race 1. Rvi6 mRNA expression of the cisgenic lines and traditionally bred Rvi6 harboring cultivars was still comparable. The transformation vector developed is useable for the production of cisgenic apple plants to a certain extent.

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Acknowledgments

The project underlying this manuscript has been funded by the Saxon State, State Ministry of Environment and Agriculture, Germany. The authors alone are responsible for the content of this publication. The authors gratefully acknowledge Uta Hille, Arvid Lauber, Teresa Strunz, and Rosi Müller for technical support.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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  1. Andrea Saß

    Present address: Rheumatologisches MVZ Dresden GmbH, Langebrücker Str. 4, 01109, Dresden, Germany

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  1. Federal Research Institute for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Breeding Research on Fruit Crops, Julius Kühn-Institute, Pillnitzer Platz 3a, 01326, Dresden, Germany

    Juliane Würdig, Henryk Flachowsky, Andrea Saß, Andreas Peil & Magda-Viola Hanke

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  1. Juliane Würdig
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  2. Henryk Flachowsky
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Correspondence to Magda-Viola Hanke.

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Würdig, J., Flachowsky, H., Saß, A. et al. Improving resistance of different apple cultivars using the Rvi6 scab resistance gene in a cisgenic approach based on the Flp/FRT recombinase system. Mol Breeding 35, 95 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11032-015-0291-8

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