Fig. 1

Stable expression of Pi04089 in potato enhances susceptibility to P. infestans. (a) Representative images of leaves of the control (E3) and Pi04089-expressing lines at 5 days post-inoculation (dpi) with P. infestans isolate HB09–14-2. Images were photographed under normal and UV light. (b) Graph showing that mean lesion diameter was significantly enhanced in three transgenic potato lines as compared to the control at 5 dpi. The disease lesion diameter was measured from at least 20 leaves. ** indicates extremely significant (one-way ANOVA, p < 0.01) differences. Error bars indicate SD. (c) Dynamic hypha biomass was measured by q-PCR. Total DNA was extracted from leaves around inoculated sites after 1, 2, 3, and 4 days. The relative hypha biomass was quantified by normalizing the P. infestans PiO8 gene values with the potato StEF1α gene values. ** indicates extremely significant differences (one-way ANOVA, p < 0.01). Error bars indicate SEM. All experiments are the combination of at least three biological replicates