Biomaterial Database

Transformation of the oomycete pathogen, Phytophthora infestans. 1991

H S Judelson, and B M Tyler, and R W Michelmore

Department of Vegetable Crops, University of California, Davis 95616.

A stable transformation procedure has been developed for Phytophthora infestans, an oomycete fungus that causes the late blight diseases of potato and tomato. This is the first description of reliable methods for transformation in an oomycete pathogen. Drug-resistant transformants were obtained by using vectors that contained bacterial genes for resistance to hygromycin B or G418 fused to promoters and terminators from the Hsp70 and Ham34 genes of the oomycete, Bremia lactucae. Using polyethylene glycol and CaCl2, vector DNA was introduced into protoplasts as a complex with cationic liposomes or with carrier DNA only. Transformants were obtained at similar frequencies with each combination of promoter and selectable marker and were confirmed by DNA and RNA hybridization and phosphotransferase assays. Transformation occurred through the integration of single or tandemly repeated copies of the plasmids into genomic DNA, conferring mitotically stable drug-resistant phenotypes. The sizes of the marker gene mRNAs in each transformant and the results of transcript mapping studies were consistent with the function of the B. lactucae regulatory sequences in P. infestans. A hygromycin-resistant transformant was tested and found to maintain pathogenicity, indicating that the gene transfer procedure will be useful for the molecular analysis of genes relevant to disease.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008969	Molecular Sequence Data	Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.	Sequence Data, Molecular,Molecular Sequencing Data,Data, Molecular Sequence,Data, Molecular Sequencing,Sequencing Data, Molecular
D009693	Nucleic Acid Hybridization	Widely used technique which exploits the ability of complementary sequences in single-stranded DNAs or RNAs to pair with each other to form a double helix. Hybridization can take place between two complimentary DNA sequences, between a single-stranded DNA and a complementary RNA, or between two RNA sequences. The technique is used to detect and isolate specific sequences, measure homology, or define other characteristics of one or both strands. (Kendrew, Encyclopedia of Molecular Biology, 1994, p503)	Genomic Hybridization,Acid Hybridization, Nucleic,Acid Hybridizations, Nucleic,Genomic Hybridizations,Hybridization, Genomic,Hybridization, Nucleic Acid,Hybridizations, Genomic,Hybridizations, Nucleic Acid,Nucleic Acid Hybridizations
D009868	Oomycetes	Eukaryotes in the group STRAMENOPILES, formerly considered FUNGI, whose exact taxonomic level is unsettled. Many consider Oomycetes (Oomycota) a phylum in the kingdom Stramenopila, or alternatively, as Pseudofungi in the phylum Heterokonta of the kingdom Chromista. They are morphologically similar to fungi but have no close phylogenetic relationship to them. Oomycetes are found in both fresh and salt water as well as in terrestrial environments. (Alexopoulos et al., Introductory Mycology, 4th ed, pp683-4). They produce flagellated, actively motile spores (zoospores) that are pathogenic to many crop plants and FISHES.	Oomycota,Oomycete,Oomycotas
D010838	Phytophthora	A genus of destructive parasitic OOMYCETES in the family Peronosporaceae, order Peronosporales, affecting numerous fruit, vegetable, and other crops. Differentiation of zoospores usually takes place in the sporangium and no vesicle is formed. It was previously considered a fungus.	Phytophthora sp. ex Parrotia persica,Sudden Oak Death Agent,Phytophthora cinnamomi,Phytophthora parasitica,Phytophthora ramorum,Phytophthora sojae
D010944	Plants	Multicellular, eukaryotic life forms of kingdom Plantae. Plants acquired chloroplasts by direct endosymbiosis of CYANOBACTERIA. They are characterized by a mainly photosynthetic mode of nutrition; essentially unlimited growth at localized regions of cell divisions (MERISTEMS); cellulose within cells providing rigidity; the absence of organs of locomotion; absence of nervous and sensory systems; and an alternation of haploid and diploid generations. It is a non-taxonomical term most often referring to LAND PLANTS. In broad sense it includes RHODOPHYTA and GLAUCOPHYTA along with VIRIDIPLANTAE.	Plant
D010957	Plasmids	Extrachromosomal, usually CIRCULAR DNA molecules that are self-replicating and transferable from one organism to another. They are found in a variety of bacterial, archaeal, fungal, algal, and plant species. They are used in GENETIC ENGINEERING as CLONING VECTORS.	Episomes,Episome,Plasmid
D012045	Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid	Nucleic acid sequences involved in regulating the expression of genes.	Nucleic Acid Regulatory Sequences,Regulatory Regions, Nucleic Acid (Genetics),Region, Regulatory,Regions, Regulatory,Regulator Regions, Nucleic Acid,Regulatory Region,Regulatory Regions
D002934	Cinnamates	Derivatives of cinnamic acid (the structural formula: phenyl-HC	Cinnamate
D004247	DNA	A deoxyribonucleotide polymer that is the primary genetic material of all cells. Eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms normally contain DNA in a double-stranded state, yet several important biological processes transiently involve single-stranded regions. DNA, which consists of a polysugar-phosphate backbone possessing projections of purines (adenine and guanine) and pyrimidines (thymine and cytosine), forms a double helix that is held together by hydrogen bonds between these purines and pyrimidines (adenine to thymine and guanine to cytosine).	DNA, Double-Stranded,Deoxyribonucleic Acid,ds-DNA,DNA, Double Stranded,Double-Stranded DNA,ds DNA
D004351	Drug Resistance	Diminished or failed response of an organism, disease or tissue to the intended effectiveness of a chemical or drug. It should be differentiated from DRUG TOLERANCE which is the progressive diminution of the susceptibility of a human or animal to the effects of a drug, as a result of continued administration.	Resistance, Drug