Severin Einspanier

Abstract Wild relatives of crop species possess diverse levels of quantitative disease resistance (QDR) to biotic stresses, yet the genomic and regulatory mechanisms underlying these differences are poorly understood. In particular, how QDR against a generalist necrotrophic pathogen evolved and whether it is driven by conserved or species-specific regulatory networks remains unclear. Here, we examined the transcriptomic responses of five diverse wild tomato species that span a gradient of QDR.

Abstract Besides the well-understood qualitative disease resistance, plants possess a more complex quantitative form of resistance: quantitative disease resistance (QDR). QDR is commonly defined as a partial but more durable form of resistance and, therefore, might display a valuable target for resistance breeding. The characterization of QDR phenotypes, especially of wild crop relatives, displays a major bottleneck in deciphering QDR's genomic and regulatory background.

Abstract The wild relatives of modern tomato crops are native to South America. These plants occur in habitats as different as the Andes and the Atacama Desert and are, to some degree, all susceptible to fungal pathogens of the genus Alternaria. Alternaria is a large genus. On tomatoes, several species cause early blight, leaf spots and other diseases. We collected Alternaria-like infection lesions from the leaves of eight wild tomato species from Chile and Peru.