Using Next Generation Sequencing to Further Understanding of Plant Pathogen Interactions

A detailed understanding of the relationships between plants and pathogens is essential if we are to continue to feed the world’s growing population.  The identification of genes underlying traits is challenging in complex genomes such as Brassica napus (canola/rapeseed).  However, recent advances in next generation sequencing (NGS) enable the study of candidate genes for traits of interest. Here we demonstrate the identification and characterisation of candidate resistance genes in Brassica napus which protect against the devastating fungal pathogen, Leptosphaeria maculans (blackleg fungus).  Analysis of the complete genome sequence B. napus identified numerous candidate CC-NBS-LRR and TIR-NBS-LRR family genes implicated in disease response, several of which were clustered around a region syntenic with major loci for blackleg resistance in B. napus.  Molecular analyses of a number of these candidate genes, using NGS and high throughput SNP genotyping in diverse cultivars will be presented.