ABSTRACT
Common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) is the most frequent weed in the Carpathian Basin and is spreading fast in other parts of Europe. In recent years, besides the wild type, a mutant genotype resistant to atrazine herbicides has evolved and is now widespread in many areas. The present study demonstrates that the atrazine resistance of ragweed is maternally inherited, and is caused by a point mutation in the psbA chloroplast gene. The promoter 5'-untranslated region and the open reading frame regions of the gene were analysed, and a homology search was performed. Both the atrazine-resistant and susceptible types of cpDNA were present in atrazine-resistant plants, while the mixed presence of both genotypes in the same plant, known as heteroplasmy, was not unequivocally detectable in susceptible plants.
Subject(s)
Ambrosia/drug effects , Ambrosia/genetics , Atrazine/pharmacology , Herbicide Resistance/genetics , 5' Untranslated Regions , Base Sequence , DNA Primers/genetics , DNA, Chloroplast/genetics , Genes, Plant , Genome, Chloroplast , Genotype , Herbicides/pharmacology , Molecular Sequence Data , Open Reading Frames , Point Mutation , Promoter Regions, Genetic , Sequence Homology, Nucleic AcidABSTRACT
In this study molecular markers linked to the Rysto gene, which originates from the wild potato species Solanum stoloniferum and confers extreme resistance against PVY, were identified and the applicability of recently published Rysto, markers was analyzed. Three RAPD markers covering a total distance of 8.60 cM were detected in this experiment. The closest of these markers was located 0.53 cM from the gene. From among the published markers only one had diagnostic value in the experimental plant material, and mapped 2.95 cM from the gene, on the side opposite the RAPD markers developed in the present study. All the markers analyzed were present in Solanum stoloniferum accessions, irrespective of their resistance, indicating that these sequences are linked to the locus and not exclusively to the dominant allele of the Rysto gene in the wild species. The inapplicability of several published markers indicates that the genetic background is decisive in this tetraploid and highly heterozygous species. This means that it may be necessary to develop markers from the breeding material itself, until the resistance gene is not cloned and cannot be used as a selection marker in marker-assisted selection.