Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel

Verticillium longisporum is a soilborne phytopathogenic fungus that is able to colonize Brassicacea (Zeise and Tiedemann, 2002) through infection of the plant root (Fig. 1). Because of the absence of resistant varieties and permitted fungicides, controlling the fungus still remains a challange.   

Fig. 1 Penetration process of Verticillium longisporum on a rapeseed root.

In this project, novel sources of resistance will be generated through identification of plant compatibility genes (Fig. 2). Gene expression in the early stage of Verticillium longisporum infection in rape seed (Brassica napus)  is analysed using a supression substractive hybridization (SSH) approach. Genes with an altered expression will be knocked out and tested for conferring a resistant genotype. The aim of the project is to identify loss of susceptibility rapeseed mutants.

Fig. 2 Shematic overview of the role of a compatibility factor as an essential interaction factor of a fungal virulence factor. Knocking out the gene will  lead to reduced susceptibility.