Karnal bunt disease in wheat is caused by hemibiotrophic fungus, Tilletia indica that has been placed as quarantine pest in more than 70 countries. Despite its economic importance, little knowledge ...about the molecular components of fungal pathogenesis is known. In this study, first time the genome sequence of T. indica has been deciphered for unraveling the effectors' functions of molecular pathogenesis of Karnal bunt disease. The T. indica genome was sequenced employing hybrid approach of PacBio Single Molecule Real Time (SMRT) and Illumina HiSEQ 2000 sequencing platforms. The genome was assembled into 10,957 contigs (N50 contig length 3 kb) with total size of 26.7 Mb and GC content of 53.99%. The number of predicted putative genes were 11,535, which were annotated with Gene Ontology databases. Functional annotation of Karnal bunt pathogen genome and classification of identified effectors into protein families revealed interesting functions related to pathogenesis. Search for effectors' genes using pathogen host interaction database identified 135 genes. The T. indica genome sequence and putative genes involved in molecular pathogenesis would further help in devising novel and effective disease management strategies including development of resistant wheat genotypes, novel biomarkers for pathogen detection and new targets for fungicide development.
Triticum militinae (2n = 4X = 28, A
A
GG), belonging to the secondary gene pool of wheat, is known to carry resistance to many diseases. Though some disease resistance genes were reported from T. ...timopheevii, the closest wild relative of T. militinae, there are no reports from T. militinae. Twenty-one T. militinae Derivatives (TMD lines) developed at the Division of Genetics, IARI, New Delhi, were evaluated for leaf and stripe rusts at seedling and adult plant stages. Eight TMD lines (6-4, 6-5, 11-6, 12-4, 12-8, 12-12, 13-7 and 13-9) showed seedling resistance to both leaf and stripe rusts while six TMD lines (7-5, 7-6, 11-5, 13-1, 13-3 and 13-4) showed seedling resistance to leaf rust but adult plant resistance to stripe rust and three TMD lines (9-1, 9-2 and 15) showed seedling resistance to leaf rust but susceptibility to stripe rust. Three TMD lines (2-7, 2-8 and 6-1) with adult plant resistance to leaf and stripe rusts were found to carry the known gene Lr34/Yr18. Ten TMD lines (7-5, 7-6, 9-1, 9-2, 11-5, 11-6, 12-12, 12-4, 12-8, and 15) with seedling resistance to leaf rust, showing absence of known genes Lr18 and Lr50 with linked markers requires further confirmation by the test of allelism studies. As not a single stripe rust resistance gene has been reported from T. militinae or its close relative T. timpopheevii, all the 8 TMD lines (6-4, 6-5, 11-6,12-4, 12-8, 12-12, 13-7 and 13-9) identified of carrying seedling resistance to stripe rust and 3 TMD lines (13-1, 13-3 and 13-4) identified of carrying adult plant resistance to stripe rust are expected to carry unknown genes. Also, all the TMD lines were found to be cytologically stable and thus can be used in inheritance and mapping studies.
Leaf rust (Puccinia triticina Eriks.) is a fungal disease of wheat (Triticum spp.), which causes considerable yield loss. Adult plant resistance (APR) is one of the most sustainable approaches to ...control leaf rust. In this study, field-testing was carried out across ten different locations, followed by molecular screening, to detect the presence of APR genes, Lr34+, Lr46+, Lr67+ and Lr68 in Indian wheat germplasm. In field screening, 190 wheat accessions were selected from 6,319 accessions based on leaf tip necrosis (LTN), disease severity and the average coefficient of infection. Molecular screening revealed that 73% of the accessions possessed known APR genes either as single or as a combination of two or three genes. The occurrence of increased LTN intensity, decreased leaf rust severity and greater expression of APR genes were more in relatively cooler locations. In 52 lines, although the presence of the APR genes was not detected, it still displayed high levels of resistance. Furthermore, 49 accessions possessing either two or three APR genes were evaluated for stability across locations for grain yield. It emerged that eight accessions had wider adaptability. Resistance based on APR genes, in the background of high yielding cultivars, is expected to provide a high level of race non-specific resistance, which is durable.
Purpose
Wheat is an important cereal crop that is cultivated in different parts of the world. The biotic stresses are the major concerns in wheat-growing nations and are responsible for production ...loss globally. The change in climate dynamics makes the pathogen more virulent in foothills and tropical regions. There is growing concern about FHB in major wheat-growing nations, and until now, there has been no known potential source of resistance identified in wheat germplasm. The plant pathogen interaction activates the cascade of pathways, genes, TFs, and resistance genes. Pathogenesis-related genes’ role in disease resistance is functionally validated in different plant systems. Similarly, Genomewide association Studies (GWAS) and Genomic selection (GS) are promising tools and have led to the discovery of resistance genes, genomic regions, and novel markers.
Fusarium graminearum
produces deoxynivalenol (DON) mycotoxins in wheat kernels, affecting wheat productivity globally. Modern technology now allows for detecting and managing DON toxin to reduce the risk to humans and animals. This review offers a comprehensive overview of the roles played by GWAS and Genomic selection (GS) in the identification of new genes, genetic variants, molecular markers and DON toxin management strategies.
Methods
The review offers a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the function of
Fusarium graminearum
virulence factors in Durum wheat. The role of GWAS and GS for Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) resistance has been well described. This paper provides a comprehensive description of the various statistical models that are used in GWAS and GS. In this review, we look at how different detection methods have been used to analyze and manage DON toxin exposure.
Results
This review highlights the role of virulent genes in Fusarium disease establishment. The role of genome-based selection offers the identification of novel QTLs in resistant wheat germplasm. The role of GWAS and GS selection has minimized the use of population development through breeding technology. Here, we also emphasized the function of recent technological developments in minimizing the impact of DON toxins and their implications for food safety.
A comprehensive germplasm evaluation study of wheat accessions conserved in the Indian National Genebank was conducted to identify sources of rust and spot blotch resistance. Genebank accessions ...comprising three species of wheat-Triticum aestivum, T. durum and T. dicoccum were screened sequentially at multiple disease hotspots, during the 2011-14 crop seasons, carrying only resistant accessions to the next step of evaluation. Wheat accessions which were found to be resistant in the field were then assayed for seedling resistance and profiled using molecular markers. In the primary evaluation, 19,460 accessions were screened at Wellington (Tamil Nadu), a hotspot for wheat rusts. We identified 4925 accessions to be resistant and these were further evaluated at Gurdaspur (Punjab), a hotspot for stripe rust and at Cooch Behar (West Bengal), a hotspot for spot blotch. The second round evaluation identified 498 accessions potentially resistant to multiple rusts and 868 accessions potentially resistant to spot blotch. Evaluation of rust resistant accessions for seedling resistance against seven virulent pathotypes of three rusts under artificial epiphytotic conditions identified 137 accessions potentially resistant to multiple rusts. Molecular analysis to identify different combinations of genetic loci imparting resistance to leaf rust, stem rust, stripe rust and spot blotch using linked molecular markers, identified 45 wheat accessions containing known resistance genes against all three rusts as well as a QTL for spot blotch resistance. The resistant germplasm accessions, particularly against stripe rust, identified in this study can be excellent potential candidates to be employed for breeding resistance into the background of high yielding wheat cultivars through conventional or molecular breeding approaches, and are expected to contribute toward food security at national and global levels.
is a potential biological control agent effective against various plant pathogens. Several reports are available on the mycoparastism and antibiosis mechanisms of
against plant pathogenic fungi, ...whereas a few states induced resistance. The potential induced defense component of
(Cg-2) was evaluated against early blight disease of tomato (
and further, global RNA sequencing was performed to gain deep insight into its mechanism. The expression of marker genes of hormone signaling pathways, such as
, and
were analyzed using real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) to determine the best time point for RNA sequencing. The transcriptome data revealed that 22,473 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were expressed in tomato at 12 h post Cg-2 inoculation as compared with control plants and among these 922 DEGs had a fold change of -2 to +2 with
< 0.05. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis revealed that most of the DEGs were belonging to metabolic pathways, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, plant-pathogen interaction, chlorophyll metabolism, and plant hormone signal transduction. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis revealed that DEGs were enriched mainly related to binding activity (GO:0005488), catalytic activity (GO:0003824), metabolic process (GO:0008152), cellular process (GO:0009987), response to stimulus (GO:0050896), biological regulation (GO:0065007), and transcription regulator activity (GO:0140110). The gene modulations in hormone signaling transduction, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MPK) signaling indicated the upregulation of genes in these pathways. The results revealed active participation of jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA) signaling transduction pathways which further indicated the involvement of induced systemic resistance (ISR) and systemic acquired resistance (SAR) in the systemic resistance induced by Cg-2 in tomato.
Tilletia indica Mitra causes Karnal bunt (KB) in wheat by pathogenic dikaryophase. The present study is the first to provide the draft genomes of the dikaryon (PSWKBGD-3) and its two monosporidial ...lines (PSWKBGH-1 and 2) using Illumina and PacBio reads, their annotation and the comparative analyses among the three genomes by extracting polymorphic SSR markers. The trancriptome from infected wheat grains of the susceptible wheat cultivar WL711 at 24 h, 48h, and 7d after inoculation of PSWKBGH-1, 2 and PSWKBGD-3 were also isolated. Further, two transcriptome analyses were performed utilizing T. indica transcriptome to extract dikaryon genes responsible for pathogenesis, and wheat transcriptome to extract wheat genes affected by dikaryon involved in plant-pathogen interaction during progression of KB in wheat. A total of 54, 529, and 87 genes at 24hai, 48hai, and 7dai, respectively were upregulated in dikaryon stage while 21, 35, and 134 genes of T. indica at 24hai, 48hai, and 7dai, respectively, were activated only in dikaryon stage. While, a total of 23, 17, and 52 wheat genes at 24hai, 48hai, and 7dai, respectively were upregulated due to the presence of dikaryon stage only. The results obtained during this study have been compiled in a web resource called TiGeR (http://backlin.cabgrid.res.in/tiger/), which is the first genomic resource for T. indica cataloguing genes, genomic and polymorphic SSRs of the three T. indica lines, wheat and T. indica DEGs as well as wheat genes affected by T. indica dikaryon along with the pathogenecity related proteins of T. indica dikaryon during incidence of KB at different time points. The present study would be helpful to understand the role of dikaryon in plant-pathogen interaction during progression of KB, which would be helpful to manage KB in wheat, and to develop KB-resistant wheat varieties.
A marker-assisted backcrossing program initiated to transfer leaf rust resistance gene
LrTrk
from
Triticum turgidum
cv. Trinakria to hexaploid wheat variety HD2932 cotransferred a stripe rust ...resistance gene,
YrTrk
, along with
LrTrk.
The cross of hexaploid recurrent parent HD2932 with tetraploid donor parent Trinakria produced pentaploid F
1
plants. F
1
s were backcrossed with recurrent parent HD2932 to produce BC
1
F
1
generation. Foreground and background selection was conducted in each backcross generation to identify plants for backcrossing or selfing. While foreground selection for
LrTrk
was carried out with linked and validated molecular marker
Xgwm234
, for background selection, 86 polymorphic SSR markers from the A and B genomes were used. Single selected plants from BC
1
F
1
and BC
2
F
1
generations backcrossed and selfed to produce BC
2
F
1
and BC
2
F
2
generations, respectively. Background selection resulted in 83.72%, 91.86%, and 98.25% of RPG recovery in BC
1
F
1
, BC
2
F
1
, and BC
2
F
2
generations, respectively. A total of 27 plants with
LrTrk
in homozygous state were identified in BC
2
F
2
generation and selfed to produce 27 BC
2
F
3
NILs. All the NILs were tested for leaf and stripe rust resistance at the seedling stage using seven
Puccinia triticina
and one
Puccinia striiformis
f.sp.
tritici
rust pathotypes. All the 27 NILs were found to be resistant to both leaf and stripe rust pathotypes. So, these NILs are designated to carry leaf and stripe rust resistance genes
LrTrk/YrTrk
.