Exploiting wild tomato genetic resources for resistance to Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus
Studies on global transcriptional regulator EBR1 and genome-wide gene expression in the fungal plant pathogen Fusarium g...
Abstract of PhD thesis Fusarium graminearum is a destructive plant pathogen that causes Fusarium head blight (FHB) on many crops, such as wheat, barley, rye and oat. In the first part of this thesis, we studied a transcription factor EBR1 that is required for radial growth and virulence in F. graminearum. Mutant ebr1 shows reduced apical dominance ...
Insertional mutagenesis in the vascular wilt pathogen Verticillium dahliae
Vascular wilt diseases caused by soil-borne pathogens are among the most devastating plant diseases worldwide. The ascomycete fungus Verticillium dahliae causes vascular wilt diseases in hundreds of dicotyledonous plant species, including important crops such as eggplant, lettuce, olive, spinach and tomato. The resting structures, microsclerotia, a...
Towards map-based cloning of partial resistance QTLs of barley to Puccinia hordei
Partial resistance of barley to Puccinia hordei and near-nonhost resistance to non-adapted rust fungi inherit polygenically. The two types of resistance seem to share some genes and have a similar prehaustorial mechanism of resistance, but partial resistance is less strong than near-nonhost resistance of barley. Partial resistance to adapted, “host...
Characterization of major resistance genes to Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus
Tomato yellow leaf curl disease, a devastating disease of tomato, is caused by a complex of begomoviruses generally referred to as Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV). Almost all breeding for TYLCV resistance has been based on the introgression of the Ty-1 and Ty-3 resistance loci derived from Solanum chilense LA1969 and LA1932/LA2779 respectivel...
Unveiling and deploying durability of late blight resistance in potato : from natural stacking to cisgenic stacking
The potato, which receives an increased attention as a food crop, has long been in threats from the oomycete Phytophthora infestans, the causal agent of late blight. This disease still remains the most important constraint in potato producing regions of the world. It might cause the complete destruction of the foliage and tubers of potato if meteor...
Analysis of Tomato spotted wilt virus effector-triggered immunity
ResistanceinCapsicumagainsttheTomatospottedwiltvirus(TSWV),typespeciesof the Tospovirusgenuswithinthe Bunyaviridaefamily,employsthe singledominant resistancegeneTsw.Thisresistance hasmeanwhilebeenbrokenbyresistance breaking (RB) TSWV isolates and is causing increasing problems in many different (Capsicumcultivating)countries.Theresearchdescribedher...
Identification of Arabidopsis thaliana genes that can increase resistance towards phloem feeding insects
Phloem feeding insects are among the most devastating pests worldwide. They not only cause damage by feeding from the phloem, but also by vectoring plant viruses. During their evolution plants have developed a variety of defense traits to combat insects. These plant resistance traits can be antixenotic and/or antibiotic. Antixenosis is the first li...
Resistance and susceptibility to late blight in Solanum: gene mapping, cloning and stacking
The potato late blight disease, caused by the oomycete Phytophthora infestans, is a major threat for potato production worldwide. To breed potato varieties with durable resistance against P. infestans, it is necessary to combine two or more resistance (R) genes. Single R genes are easily overcome by the rapidly evolving pathogen, whereas the presen...
The genetic and molecular basis of natural variation for plant growth and related traits in Arabidopsis thaliana
Plant growth is a complex quantitative trait of which the (eco)physiological aspects have been researched in great detail. In contrast, little is known about the genetic basis and molecular basis of plant growth. Most of what is known today has been discovered by using reverse genetic approaches that target single genes. Forward genetics using natu...
