Molecular characterization of NBS-LRR-RGAs in the rose genome

To isolate resistance gene analogues (RGAs) from roses we used various degenerate oligonucleotide primers targeting conserved motifs within the NBS region of nucleotide binding site (NBS)-leucine-rich repeat (LRR) resistance genes. A large RGA sublibrary consisting of 7000 clones was constructed. This sublibrary contains at least 40 unique RGA families of the TIR (toll-/interleukin-1 receptor) and the LZ (leucine zipper) type, which were further analysed. Phylogenetic studies revealed close relationships of some rose RGAs to R genes and RGAs from other plants and gave rise to the assumption that rose R genes evolved from different starting points, prior to and subsequent to speciation. Southern blot analyses showed that the RGAs were organized as single, low and multicopy loci in the rose genome. None of the analysed sequences detected any hybridization signal in Prunus cérasus indicating that the analysed RGAs are not conserved across genera. The efficiency and selectivity of the different degenerate primers used for the RGA isolation is discussed in detail.