In silico characterization and expression of disease-resistance-related genes within the collinear region of Brassica napus blackleg resistant locus LepR1′ in B. oleracea

Blackleg is a devastating disease of cabbage (C genome), but so far, only a few resistant cabbage lines have been identified, and the resistance-related genes are yet to be identified. In contrast, numerous R loci have been mapped to the A or B genome. High ancestral synteny among Brassicaceae genomes suggest that homologous regions of R loci in the A or B genome may contain functional R gene(s) in the C genome. Here, we investigated the collinear region of a major Brassica napus R locus, LepR1′, in Brassica oleracea to identify genes of putative disease resistance class via comprehensive in silico analysis. The LepR1′ locus is collinear to a 17.29-Mbp region in chromosome C02 of Brassica oleracea and hosted a total of 1,392 genes, and 36 of these genes contained NBS, LRR, TIR, F-box and RLK domains. The expression of these 36 genes was profiled using qRT-PCR in the cotyledons of resistant (SCNU-03) and susceptible (SCNU-59) lines at 0, 6, 24, and 48 h after inoculation with Leptosphaeria maculans isolates 00–100s and 03–02s having the corresponding avirulent gene, AvrLep1. Among these genes, a cluster of 10 genes were differentially expressed. NBS-LRR gene Bo2g131620 had a 45-bp insertion/deletion (indel) mutation in the 3rd intron between resistant and susceptible lines. The higher expression in resistant lines against both isolates and the indel mutation in Bo2g131620 suggest that these genes may have roles in blackleg resistance in cabbage. Mapping and functional analysis will be necessary to validate such a role. Saturating the region with enough markers is recommended during mapping.