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Ralstonia solanacearum causes one of the most common soil-borne vascular diseases of diverse plant species, including many solanaceous crops such as tomato and pepper. The resulting disease, bacterial wilt (BW), is devastating and difficult to control using conventional approaches. The aim of this study was to investigate the differentially expressed genes in pepper root systems in response to infection by R. solanacearum. DNA microarray (Capsicum annuum 135K Microarray v3.0 Gene Expression platform) analyses were performed using a susceptible genotype, ‘Chilbok’, and a resistant genotype, ‘KC350’, at 3 time points (1, 3, and 6 days post inoculation). It has been identified 115 resistance-specific genes (R-response genes) and 109 susceptibility-specific genes (S-response gene), which were up-regulated in 1 genotype, but down-regulated in the other genotype. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis for functional categorization indicated that many R-response genes were related to genes that function in xyloglucan biosynthesis and cell wall organization, while S-response genes were involved in the response to stress and cell death. The expression of genes encoding xyloglucan endotransglycosylase/hydrolase (XTH) and β-galactosidase were verified by real-time RT-PCR at an early time point of R. solanacearum infection. The results supported the idea that rapidly induced XTH expression in ‘KC350’ may play an important role in the restructuring and reinforcement of the cell wall and restrict bacterial movement in xylem vessels. In addition, induced expression of β-galactosidase in R. solanacearum-infected ‘Chilbok’ implied that degradation of the cell wall structure in vascular tissues by β-galactosidase might be an important factor facilitating R. solanacearum invasion of and movement in susceptible host plants.

Reductions in growth and quality due to powdery mildew (PM) disease cause significant economic losses in tomato production. Oidium neolycopersici was identified as the fungal species responsible for tomato PM disease in South Korea in the present study, based on morphological and internal transcribed spacer DNA sequence analyses of PM samples collected from two remote regions (Muju and Miryang). The genes involved in resistance to this pathogen in the tomato accession 'KNU-12' (Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme) were evaluated, and the inheritance of PM resistance in 'KNU-12' was found to be conferred via simple Mendelian inheritance of a mutant allele of the PM susceptibility locus Ol-2 (SlMlo1). Full-length cDNA analysis of this newly identified mutant allele (Slmlo1.1) showed that a 1-bp deletion in its coding region led to a frameshift mutation possibly resulting in SlMlo1 loss-of-function. An alternatively spliced transcript of Slmlo1.1 was observed in the cDNA sequences of 'KNU-12', but its direct influence on PM resistance is unclear. A derived cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (dCAPS) and a high-resolution melting (HRM) marker were developed based on the 1-bp deletion in Slmlo1.1, and could be used for efficient marker-assisted selection (MAS) using 'KNU-12' as the source for durable and broad-spectrum resistance to PM.