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The CC-NBS-LRR Subfamily in Pinus monticola: Targeted Identification, Gene Expression, and Genetic Linkage with Resistance to Cronartium ribicola

To investigate disease resistance gene analogs (RGAs) encoding coiled-coil-nucelotide-binding site-leucine-rich repeats (CC-NBS-LRR) proteins in western white pine, degenerate primers targeting the conserved motifs in the NBS domain were designed to amplify RGAs from genomic DNA and cDNA. Sixty-one distinct RGAs were identified with identities to well-known R proteins of the CC-NBS-LRR subfamily. These RGAs exhibited variation of putative amino acid sequences from 13% to 98%, representing a complex CC-NBS-LRR subfamily. A phylogenetic tree constructed from the amino acid sequence alignment revealed that these 61 RGAs were grouped with other CC-NBS-LRR members from angiosperms, and could be further divided into six classes with an identity threshold of 68%. To map RGAs, RGA polymorphisms and a modified amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) method with incorporated sequences from the NBS domain were used to reveal NBS or NBS-AFLP markers. RGA polymorphism study revealed that three off the identified RGAs were not linked to the Cr2 gene imparting resistance to white pine blister rust. However, the AFLP strategy, using bulk segregant analysis (BSA) and haploid segregation analysis, identified 11 NBS-AFLP markers localized in the Cr2 linkage, the closest two to the gene being 0.41 cM and 1.22 cM away at either side. Eight of these markers showed significant amino acid sequence homologies with RGAs.