Capistrano-Gossmann, Gina G.Ries, DavidHoltgräwe, DanielaMinoche, André E.Kraft, ThomasFrerichmann, Sebastian L.M.Rosleff Soerensen, T.Dohm, Juliane C.González Navarrete, Irene, 1983-Schilhabel, Markus B.Varrelmann, MarkTschoep, HendrikUphoff, HubertSchütze, KatiaBorchardt, Dietrich C.Toerjek, O.Mechelke, WolfgangLein, Jens ChristophSchechert, Axel W.Frese, LotharHimmelbauer, HeinzWeisshaar, BerndKopisch-Obuch, Friedrich J.2018-06-252018-06-252017Capistrano-Gossmann GG, Ries D, Holtgräwe D, Minoche A, Kraft T, Frerichmann SLM et al. Crop wild relative populations of Beta vulgaris allow direct mapping of agronomically important genes. Nat Commun. 2017 Jun 6;8:15708. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms157082041-1723http://hdl.handle.net/10230/34964Rapid identification of agronomically important genes is of pivotal interest for crop breeding. One source of such genes are crop wild relative (CWR) populations. Here we used a CWR population of <200 wild beets (B. vulgaris ssp. maritima), sampled in their natural habitat, to identify the sugar beet (Beta vulgaris ssp. vulgaris) resistance gene Rz2 with a modified version of mapping-by-sequencing (MBS). For that, we generated a draft genome sequence of the wild beet. Our results show the importance of preserving CWR in situ and demonstrate the great potential of CWR for rapid discovery of causal genes relevant for crop improvement. The candidate gene for Rz2 was identified by MBS and subsequently corroborated via RNA interference (RNAi). Rz2 encodes a CC-NB-LRR protein. Access to the DNA sequence of Rz2 opens the path to improvement of resistance towards rhizomania not only by marker-assisted breeding but also by genome editing.application/pdfeng© The Author(s) 2017. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15708Agricultural geneticsPlant breedingPlant geneticsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess