cDNA Microarray Analysis of Phytophthora Resistance Related Genes Isolated from Pepper

Phytophthora blight is a devastating disease of pepper and occurs almost anywhere peppers are grown. Phytophthora blight is caused by Phytophthora capsici and this pathogen can infect every part of the plant by moving inoculum in the soil, by infecting water on surface, by aerial dispersal to sporulating lesions. Management of Phytophthora blight currently relies on cultural practices, crop rotation, and use of selective fungicides. Since these treatments are a short-term management, a classical breeding for development of resistant pepper against the Phytophthora is an alternative. So far some of the resistant cultivars have been on the market, but those are limited regionally and commercially. Therefore, ultimately an elite line resistant against this disease should be developed, if possible, by biotechnology. We have set out a series of work recently in order to develop Phytophthora resistant pepper cultivar. For the first time, the cDNA microarray analysis was peformed using an EST chip that holds around 5000 pepper EST clones to identify genes responsive to Phytophthora infection. Total RNA samples were obtained from Capsicum annuum PI201234 after inoculating P. capsici to roots and soil and exposed to the chip. .Around 900 EST clones were up-regulated and down-regulated depending on the two RNA sample tissues, leaf and root. From those, we have found 55 transcription factors that may be involved in gene regulation of the disease defense mechanism. Further and in detail information will be provided in the poster.