Cisgenic Gala Apples Provide Resistance Against Apple Scab and Fire Blight

The researchers from the University of Florida and partners have developed new cisgenic 'Gala' apple lines that show strong resistance to apple scab and fire blight, two of the crop's most damaging diseases. The team improved disease resistance by introducing naturally occurring resistance genes from wild apple varieties.

The researchers inserted the Rvi15 gene for apple scab resistance and the FB_MR5 gene for fire blight resistance into separate 'Gala' apple lines using cisgenesis. Five of the six new lines contained a single copy of the introduced gene and only small amounts of residual vector DNA. The results showed that all of the cisgenic apple lines showed significantly greater resistance to their target disease than unmodified 'Gala' plants.

The researchers noted that the current lines rely on a single resistance gene, which means that additional resistance genes should be combined to provide longer-lasting protection against evolving pathogens. They added that disease durability and future regulatory policies will play important roles in determining how cisgenic apples contribute to sustainable apple production while maintaining high fruit quality.

For more information, read the abstract from Planta.