Expression analysis of resistance gene analogs in Piper colubrinum - Phytophthora capsici pathosystem

Piper colubrinum Link is resistant to major devastating disease of black pepper, Phytophthora foot rot, caused by Phytophthora capsici. Majority of the R-genes belongs to nucleotide binding site (NBS) and Leucine rich Repeat (LRR) family that are characterized by conserved domains. Sequence based homology approach using conserved NBS-LRR of plant resistance genes identified non-TIR resistance gene analogs from black pepper and P. colubrinum. Functional characterization of Piper resistance gene analogs was attempted in P. colubrinum under Phytophthora challenge. Quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) revealed differential transcript expression of Resistance gene analogs in P. colubrinum following P. capsici infection. Two putative candidate genes with upregulated expression of Piper RGA provide a lead towards recovering resistance specificities in P. colubrinum against hemibiotrophic pathogen, P. capsici.