Gene B 5 in Cotton Confers High and Broad Resistance to Bacterial Blight and Conditions High Amounts of Sesquiterpenoid Phytoalexins.

Bacterial blight resistance gene B ₅ has received little attention since it was first described in 1950. A near-isogenic line (NIL) of Gossypium hirsutum cotton, Ac B ₅ , was generated in an otherwise bacterial-blight-susceptible 'Acala 44' background. The introgressed locus B ₅ in Ac B ₅ conferred strong and broad-spectrum resistance to bacterial blight. Segregation patterns of test crosses under Oklahoma field conditions indicated that Ac B ₅ is likely homozygous for resistance at two loci with partial dominance gene action. In controlled-environment conditions, two of the four copies of B ₅ were required for effective resistance. Contrary to expectations of gene-for-gene theory, Ac B ₅ conferred high resistance toward isogenic strains of Xanthomonas citri subsp. malvacearum carrying cloned avirulence genes avrB4 , avrb7 , avrBIn , avrB101 , and avrB102 , respectively, and weaker resistance toward the strain carrying cloned avrb6 . The hypothesis that each B gene, in the absence of a polygenic complex, triggers sesquiterpenoid phytoalexin production was tested by measurement of cadalene and lacinilene phytoalexins during resistant responses in five NILs carrying different B genes, four other lines carrying multiple resistance genes, as well as susceptible Ac44E. Phytoalexin production was an obvious, but variable, response in all nine resistant lines. Ac B ₅ accumulated an order of magnitude more of all four phytoalexins than any of the other resistant NILs. Its total levels were comparable to those detected in OK1.2, a highly resistant line that possesses several B genes in a polygenic background.
Competing Interests: The author(s) declare no conflict of interest.