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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Mycotoxin Prevention and Applied Microbiology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #300444
Title: Transgenic wheat carrying a barley UDP-glucosyltransferase exhibit high levels of Fusarium head blight resistance by detoxifying trichothecenes

Author
item XIN, LI - University Of Minnesota
item SANGHYUN, SHIN - University Of Minnesota
item HEINEN, SHANE - University Of Minnesota
item DILL-MACKY, RUTH - University Of Minnesota
item BERTHILLER, FRANZ - University Of Natural Resources & Applied Life Sciences - Austria
item CLEMENTE, THOMAS - University Of Nebraska
item McCormick, Susan
item MUEHLBAUER, GARY - University Of Minnesota

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/5/2013
Publication Date: 12/5/2013
Citation: Xin, L., Sanghyun, S., Heinen, S., Dill-Macky, R., Berthiller, F., Clemente, T., McCormick, S.P., Muehlbauer, G. 2013. Transgenic wheat carrying a barley UDP-glucosyltransferase exhibit high levels of Fusarium head blight resistance by detoxifying trichothecenes [abstract]. U.S. Wheat Barley Scab Forum.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a worldwide disease of wheat and barley, mainly caused by Fusarium graminearum. During infection, the fungal pathogen produces trichothecene mycotoxins, such as deoxynivalenol (DON) and nivalenol (NIV) that increase fungal virulence. Moreover, grains contaminated with trichothecenes threaten the health of humans and animals that consume them. Previous work had identified a barley UDP-glucosyltransferase (HvUGT13248) gene that exhibited resistance to DON via the conversion to DON-3-O-glucoside (D3G) in transgenic yeast and Arabidopsis. We developed transgenic wheat lines constitutively overexpressing the HvUGT13248 gene in the background of cultivar Bobwhite and CB037. We performed point-inoculation tests in the greenhouse for three seasons (2011 spring, 2011 fall and 2012 spring) and found that transgenic wheat exhibited significantly higher type II resistance compared with the untransformed parental lines. Moreover, in two field tests (2012 and 2013 summer), HvUGT13248-overexpressing wheat lines also showed significantly less disease symptoms compared to the untransformed controls. To assess the mechanism of resistance, we inoculated plants with DON and examined the concentration of DON and D3G from 1-21 days after inoculation. HvUGT13248-overexpressing wheat plants converted DON to D3G more rapidly to a higher extent than untransformed plants. We also extended our exploration to the function of HvUGT13248 gene toward NIV, and found that HvUGT13248-overexpressing wheat lines exhibits high level of type II resistance to a NIV-producing Fusarium graminearum strain.