Plasmodiophora brassicae, the causal agent of clubroot disease of the Brassica crops, is widespread in the world. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for partial resistance to 4 different isolates of P. brassicae (Pb2, Pb4, Pb7, and Pb10) were investigated using a BC₁F₁ population from a cross between two subspecies of Brassica rapa, i.e. Chinese cabbage inbred line C59-1 as a susceptible recurrent parent and turnip inbred line ECD04 as a resistant donor parent. The BC₁F₂ families were assessed for resistance under controlled conditions. A linkage map constructed with simple sequence repeats (SSR), unigene-derived microsatellite (UGMS) markers, and specific markers linked to published clubroot resistance (CR) genes of B. rapa was used to perform QTL mapping. A total of 6 QTLs residing in 5 CR QTL regions of the B. rapa chromosomes A01, A03, and A08 were identified to account for 12.2 to 35.2% of the phenotypic variance. Two QTL regions were found to be novel except for 3 QTLs in the respective regions of previously identified Crr1, Crr2, and Crr3. QTL mapping results indicated that 1 QTL region was common for partial resistance to the 2 isolates of Pb2 and Pb7, whereas the others were specific for each isolate. Additionally, synteny analysis between B. rapa and Arabidopsis thaliana revealed that all CR QTL regions were aligned to a single conserved crucifer blocks (U, F, and R) on 3 Arabidopsis chromosomes where 2 CR QTLs were detected in A. thaliana. These results suggest that some common ancestral genomic regions were involved in the evolution of CR genes in B. rapa.

Although Plasmodiophora brassicae is one of the most common pathogens worldwide, the causal agent of clubroot disease in Brassica crops, resistance mechanisms to it are still only poorly understood. To study the early defense response induced by P. brassicae infection, a global transcriptome profiling of the roots of two near-isogenic lines (NILs) of clubroot-resistant (CR BJN3-2) and clubroot-susceptible (BJN3-2) Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa) was performed by RNA-seq. Among the 42,730 unique genes mapped to the reference genome of B. rapa, 1,875 and 2,103 genes were found to be up- and down-regulated between CR BJN3-2 and BJN3-2, respectively, at 0, 12, 72, and 96 hours after inoculation (hai). Functional annotation showed that most of the differently expressed genes are involved in metabolism, transport, signal transduction, and defense. Of the genes assigned to plant-pathogen interactions, 151 showed different expression patterns between two NILs, including genes associated with pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and effectors recognition, calcium ion influx, hormone signaling, pathogenesis-related (PR) genes, transcription factors, and cell wall modification. In particular, the expression level of effector receptors (resistance proteins), PR genes involved in salicylic acid (SA) signaling pathway, were higher in clubroot-resistant NIL, while half of the PAMP receptors were suppressed in CR BJN3-2. This suggests that there was a more robust effector-triggered immunity (ETI) response in CR BJN3-2 and that SA signaling was important to clubroot resistance. The dataset generated by our transcriptome profiling may prove invaluable for further exploration of the different responses to P. brassicae between clubroot-resistant and clubroot-susceptible genotypes, and it will strongly contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of resistance genes of B. rapa against P. brassicae infection.

The rapid spread of clubroot disease, which is caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae, threatens Brassicaceae crop production worldwide. Breeding plants that have broad-spectrum disease resistance is one of the best ways to prevent clubroot. In the present study, eight Chinese cabbage germplasms were screened using published clubroot-resistant (CR) loci-/gene-linked markers. A CR gene Crr3 potential carrier “85-74” was detected which linked to marker BRSTS61; however, “85-74” shows different responses to local pathogens “LAB-19,” “LNND-2,” and “LAB-10” from “CR-73” which harbors Crr3. We used a next-generation sequencing-based bulked segregant analysis approach combined with genetic mapping to detect CR genes in an F₂ segregant population generated from a cross between the Chinese cabbage inbred lines “85-74” (CR) and “BJN3-1” (clubroot susceptible). The “85-74” line showed resistance to a local pathogen “LAB-19” which was identified as race 4; a genetic analysis revealed that the resistance was conferred by a single dominant gene. The CR gene which we named CRd was mapped to a 60 kb (1 cM) region between markers yau389 and yau376 on chromosome A03. CRd is located upstream of Crr3 which was confirmed based on the physical positions of Crr3 linked markers. The identification of CRd linked markers can be applied to marker-assisted selection in the breeding of new CR cultivars of Chinese cabbage and other Brassica crops.

Plasmodiophora brassicae is a soil borne pathogen and the causal agent of clubroot, a devastating disease of Brassica crops. The pathogen lives inside roots, and hijacks nutrients from the host plants. It is suggested that clubroot galls created an additional nutrient sink in infected roots. However, the molecular mechanism underlying P. brassicae infection and sugar transport is unclear. Here, we analyzed sugar contents in leaves and roots before and after P. brassicae infection using a pair of Chinese cabbage near-isogenic lines (NILs), carrying either a clubroot resistant (CR) or susceptible (CS) allele at the CRb locus. P. brassicae infection caused significant increase of glucose and fructose contents in the root of CS-NIL compared to CR-NIL, suggesting that sugar translocation and P. brassicae growth are closely related. Among 32 B. rapa SWEET homologs, several BrSWEETs belonging to Clade I and III were significantly up-regulated, especially in CS-NIL upon P. brassicae infection. Moreover, Arabidopsis sweet11 mutant exhibited slower gall formation compared to the wild-type plants. Our studies suggest that P. brassicae infection probably triggers active sugar translocation between the sugar producing tissues and the clubbed tissues, and the SWEET family genes are involved in this process.

Summary: Clubroot is one of the most important diseases for many important cruciferous vegetables and oilseed crops worldwide. Different clubroot resistance (CR) loci have been identified from only limited species in Brassica, making it difficult to compare and utilize these loci. European fodder turnip ECD04 is considered one of the most valuable resources for CR breeding. To explore the genetic and evolutionary basis of CR in ECD04, we sequenced the genome of ECD04 using de novo assembly and identified 978 candidate R genes. Subsequently, the 28 published CR loci were physically mapped to 15 loci in the ECD04 genome, including 62 candidate CR genes. Among them, two CR genes, CRA3.7.1 and CRA8.2.4, were functionally validated. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that CRA3.7.1 and CRA8.2.4 originated from a common ancestor before the whole‐genome triplication (WGT) event. In clubroot susceptible Brassica species, CR‐gene homologues were affected by transposable element (TE) insertion, resulting in the loss of CR function. It can be concluded that the current functional CR genes in Brassica rapa and non‐functional CR genes in other Brassica species were derived from a common ancestral gene before WGT. Finally, a hypothesis for CR gene evolution is proposed for further discussion.