STAYGREEN, STAY HEALTHY: a loss‐of‐susceptibility mutation in the STAYGREEN gene provides durable, broad‐spectrum disease resistances for over 50 years of US cucumber production

What is it about?

Plant breeders have always been interested in finding genes with long-lasting resistance to multiple diseases to improve crop production. We show that the stay-green gene that plays a key role in chlorophyll degradation and senescence in plants has a novel function in contributing to durable disease resistances to three different pathogens in cucumber. The STAYGREEN (SGR) gene plays important regulatory roles in chlorophyll degradation during leaf senescence in plants. We show that a loss-of-susceptibility mutation in the cucumber CsSGR gene is underlying the downy mildew, anthracnose and angular leaf spot resistances that have protected US cucumber production for over 50 years. The durable, broad-spectrum disease resistance represents a novel function of the conserved SGR genes in plants.

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