Cucumber mosaic virus and peronospora resistance in spinacia oleracea

A method for selecting a spinach plant resistant to Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV), comprising

• a) identifying by genetic analysis the presence of an allele of the alpha-WOLF gene encoding a protein which confers resistance to CMV;
• and
• b) selecting a plant that comprises said allele of the alpha-WOLF gene;
• wherein:
• the allele of the alpha-WOLF gene comprises:
• i) a nucleotide sequence comprising a coding sequence having at least 97% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:
• 10;
• or
• ii) a nucleotide sequence encoding a protein which has an amino acid sequence having at least 93.5% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:
• 11;
• or
• iii) a nucleotide sequence encoding an LRR domain wherein the nucleotide sequence has at least 94.5% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:
• 12;
• or
• iv) a nucleotide sequence encoding an LRR domain, wherein the LRR domain comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 93% sequence similarity to SEQ ID NO:
• 13;
• wherein the protein comprises in its amino acid sequence the motif MAEIGYSVC (SEQ ID NO:
• 1) at its N-terminus, and the motif KWMCLR (SEQ ID NO:
• 2);
• and
• wherein the plant selected in b) does not comprise a second alpha-WOLF allele having a nucleotide comprising a coding sequence according to SEQ ID NO:
• 14.

A method for identifying a spinach plant comprising an allele of an alpha-WOLF gene encoding a protein which confers resistance to Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV), wherein:

• the allele of the alpha-WOLF gene comprises:
• i) a nucleotide sequence comprising a coding sequence having at least 97% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:
• 10 (nucleotide sequence (i));
• or
• ii) a nucleotide sequence encoding a protein which has an amino acid sequence having at least 93.5% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:
• 11 (nucleotide sequence (ii));
• or
• iii) a nucleotide sequence encoding an LRR domain wherein the nucleotide sequence has at least 94.5% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:
• 12 (nucleotide sequence (iii));
• or
• iv) a nucleotide sequence encoding an LRR domain, wherein the LRR domain comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 93% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:
• 13 (nucleotide sequence (iv));
• and
• the protein encoded by the allele of the alpha-WOLF gene comprises in its amino acid sequence the motif MAEIGYSVC (SEQ ID NO:
• 1) at its N-terminus, and the motif KWMCLR (SEQ ID NO:
• 2);
• the method comprises:
• detecting by genetic analysis in the genome of the spinach plant nucleotide (i), or nucleotide (ii), nucleotide (iii), or nucleotide (iv), or a unique polymorphism in the allele of the alpha-WOLF gene, thereby identifying the spinach plant comprising the allele of the alpha-WOLF gene;
• and optionally testing the plant identified as comprising the allele of the alpha-WOLF gene for exhibiting resistance to CMV;
• wherein the plant identified by the method does not comprise a second alpha-WOLF allele having a nucleotide comprising a coding sequence according to SEQ ID NO:
• 14.