Melon downy mildew caused by Pseudoperonospora cubensis leads to significant losses in melon yields worldwide. Reverse-transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) was performed using cDNAs as templates from melon- Huangdanzi induced with fungus Pseudoperonospora cubensis, and degenerate primers designed based on the conserved amino acid sequences of known plant disease-resistance genes. A polymorphic cDNA fragment which we named mp-19 was cloned and sequenced. The Open Reading Frame (ORF) of this product comprised of 510 base pairs which encodes DNA or RNA-binding protein with 170 amino acids. The putative amino acid sequence of mp-19 appeared highly homologous with those of NBS-type resistant-genes isolated from other plants. Southern blot indicated that the melon genome contained more than 3 copies of mp-19. The obvious expression differences detected by semi-quantitative RT- PCR could be observed between resistant-line Huangdanzi and susceptible-line Jiashi after Pseudoperonospora cubensis infection, which implied that mp-19 gene may be related to the resistance of downy mildew in melon.
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