Identification and mapping of Rpi-blb4 in diploid wild potato species Solanum bulbocastanum

Abstract

More than 170 years after causing the potato famine in Ireland, late blight is still considered one of the most devastating crop diseases. Commercial potato breeding efforts depend on natural sources of resistance to protect crops from the rapidly evolving late blight pathogen, Phytophthora infestans. We have identified and mapped a novel broad-spectrum disease resistance gene effective against P. infestans from the wild, diploid potato species Solanum bulbocastanum. Diagnostic resistance gene enrichment sequencing (dRenSeq) was used to confirm the uniqueness of the identified resistance. RenSeq and GenSeq-based mapping of the resistance, referred to as Rpi-blb4, alongside recombinant screening, positioned the locus responsible for the resistance to potato Chromosome 5. The interval spans approximately 2.3 MB and corresponds to the DM reference genome positions of 11.25 and 13.56 Mb.