New homologues of the Rpi-chc1 gene in wild and cultivated Solanum species
Viktor Martynov and Mariya Beketova
Abstract: The Rpi-chc1 gene confers resistance to late blight (LB) in the wild South American species Solanum chacoense. The goal of this study was to enhance our insight into polymorphism of this gene in the genus Solanum, which is the source of valuable donors of resistance to LB. To this end, we analyzed 122 accessions of the working collection, consisting of potato cultivars, complex interspecific hybrids, and representatives of 11 wild Solanum species. We studied the polymorphism of the region of this gene that encodes the most polymorphic LRR domain. As a result, in the species S. chacoense, S. berthaultii, S. tuberosum, S. microdontum, and S. maglia we found previously unknown variants of the Rpichc1 gene, which differ in their amino acid sequence from both the functional and non-functional variant of the Rpi-chc1 gene. Therefore, the function of these homologues cannot be unambiguously predicted, but must be further studied.