Identification of resistance genes from wild relatives of banana and their uses in controlling panama disease

Abstract

The present disclosure provides compositions and methods for providing broad-based resistance to fungal pathogens, such as a Fusarium fungi, and plants derived therefrom.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 866,872, filed on Jun. 26, 2019, and of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 912,010, filed on Oct. 7, 2019, the entire contents of each of which are herein incorporated by reference.FIELD[0002]The present disclosure generally relates to the field of agricultural industry, especially production of consumer crops with pathogenic resistance. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to compositions and methods for generating plants that possess traits resistant to fungal pathogens such as the soil-born Fusarium fungi and / or that show resistance to diseases caused by said fungal pathogens.DESCRIPTION OF THE TEXT FILE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY[0003]The Sequence Listing associated with this application is provided in text format in lieu of a paper copy. The contents of the text file submitted electronically herewith are incorporated herein by referen...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0021]In some embodiments, the present invention provides methods for producing a plant cell resistant to Fusarium oxysporum race 4 comprising introducing at least one genetic modification into one or more endogenous nucleic acid sequences coding for susceptibility to Fusarium oxysporum race 4, wherein the genetic modification confers resistance to Fusarium oxysporum race 4 to the plant cell. In some embodiments, at least one genetic modification is introduced by a TALEN, a meganuclease, a zinc finger nuclease or a CRISPR-associated nuclease. In some embodiments, the at least one genetic modification is introduced by a CRISPR-associated nuclease and an associated guide RNA. In some embodiments, the at least one genetic modification is selected from the list consisting of replacing a T corresponding to position 148 of SEQ ID NO: 14 with a G (148T>G), replacing a T corresponding to position 323 of SEQ ID NO: 14 with an A (323T>A), replacing a G corresponding to position 344 of SEQ ID NO: 14 with a C (344G>C), and replacing an A corresponding to position 347 of SEQ ID NO: 14 with a T (347A>T). In some embodiments, the at least one genetic modification results in a change in an amino acid selected from the group consisting of replacing a Leucine corresponding to position 50 of SEQ ID NO: 15 with a Valine (50L>V), replacing a Valine corresponding to position 108 of SEQ ID NO: 15 with a Glutamic Acid (108V>E), replacing an Arginine corresponding to position 115 of SEQ ID NO: 15 with a Proline (115R>P), and replacing an Aspartic Acid corresponding to position 116 of SEQ ID NO: 15 with a Valine (116D>V). In some embodiments, the plant cell is a Musa plant cell. In some embodiments, the plant cell is a Musa acuminata plant cell. In some embodiments, the methods further comprise producing transformed plant tissue from the transformed plant cell. In some embodiments, the methods further comprise producing a transformed plantlet from the transformed plant tissue. In some embodiments, the methods further comprise producing a clone of the transformed plantlet. In some embodiments, the methods further comprise growing the transformed plantlet or clone of the transformed plantlet into a mature transformed plant. In some embodiments, the mature transformed plant is a Musa plant and the mature transformed Musa plant is capable of producing fruit. In some embodiments, the methods further comprise producing clones of the mature transformed Musa plant. In some embodiments, the methods further comprise using the mature transformed Musa plant or clone of the mature transformed Musa plant in a breeding method.

Problems solved by technology

However, this important crop is now severely threatened by Fusarium Wilt, also known as Panama Disease, caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f sp.

Clearly, the current expansion of the Panama disease epidemic is particularly destructive due to the massive monoculture of susceptible Cavendish bananas.

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