A genetic map of Blumeria graminis based on functional genes, avirulence genes, and molecular markers

Abstract

A genetic map of the powdery mildew fungus, Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei, an obligate biotrophic pathogen of barley, is presented. The linkage analysis was conducted on 81 segregating haploid progeny isolates from a cross between 2 isolates differing in seven avirulence genes. A total of 359 loci were mapped, comprising 182 amplified fragment length polymorphism markers, 168 restriction fragment length polymorphism markers including 42 LTR-retrotransposon loci and 99 expressed sequence tags (ESTs), all the seven avirulence genes, and a marker closely linked to the mating type gene. The markers are distributed over 34 linkage groups covering a total of 2114 cM. Five avirulence genes were found to be linked and mapped in clusters of three and two, and two were unlinked. The Avr(a6) gene was found to be closely linked to markers suitable for a map-based cloning approach. A linkage between ESTs allowed us to demonstrate examples of synteny between genes in B. graminis and Neurospora crassa.