Protein Changes in Sugar Beet Associated with Fusarium fungal Infection

Fusarium oxysporum, the causal agent of Fusarium Yellows of sugar beet, is a serious threat to sugar beet production worldwide. Although some sugar beet varieties are known to be resistant to Fusarium, the basis for resistance is not well understood. Identification of genes responsible for the resistance has proven to be difficult for a number of reasons. There is a large variability among pathogens in a population, and the response of sugar beets to Fusarium infection is highly isolate-specific. In addition, the efficacy of resistant beet genotypes varies by geographical location. To establish basic a understanding regarding the nature of susceptibility of sugar beets to Fusarium infection, a group of researchers from the Agricultural Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture monitored the protein changes in resistant and susceptible sugar beet germplasm following inoculation with the pathogen.

Proteins uniquely induced by Fusarium infection in susceptible varieties include tonoplast aquaporins, proteinaceous pores that regulate water flow and solute transport, and cyclophilin, a protein known to play an important role in fungal virulence and defense activation. Regulating the expression of aquaporin through gene silencing has created increased resistance to root knot nematodes in tomato suggesting that exploitation of similar mechanisms in sugar beet might prove to be effective in a disease control strategy. These results will provide a framework for identifying markers for resistance selection and for the development of more advanced disease control strategies.

For details read the article published by the Journal of Agricultural Food and Chemistry at http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/asap.cgi/jafcau/asap/html/jf070876q.html