Large-scale transcriptomic analysis of wheat high-temperature seedling plant resistance to Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici revealed non-race-specific resistance

Authors: TAO, FEI - Northwest Agriculture And Forestry University; WANG, JUNJUAN - Northwest Agriculture And Forestry University; GUO, ZHONGFENG - Northwest Agriculture And Forestry University; HU, JINGJING - Nextomics Biosciences Co, Ltd; XU, XIANGMING - National Institute Of Agricultural Botany (NIAB); YANG, JIARONG - Northwest Agriculture And Forestry University; Chen, Xianming; HU, XIAOPING - Northwest Agriculture And Forestry University

Submitted to: New Phytologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/9/2018
Publication Date: 2/28/2018
Citation: Tao, F., Wang, J., Guo, Z., Hu, J., Xu, X., Yang, J., Chen, X., Hu, X. 2018. Large-scale transcriptomic analysis of wheat high-temperature seedling plant resistance to Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici revealed non-race-specific resistance. New Phytologist. https://doi:10.3389/fpls.2018.00240.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.00240

Interpretive Summary: Stripe rust is a destructive disease of wheat worldwide. Previous studies showed that seedlings of a susceptible cultivar XY 6 can be induced to be resistant to stripe rust when exposed to a short period of high temperature. Such high-temperature seedling-plant (HTSP) resistance is race non-specific and durable; however, its underlying mechanism is not yet well understood. In this study, 30 cDNA libraries were obtained from seedlings of XY 6 exposed to different temperature treatments and sequenced with Illumina technology. Sequences were assembled by combining de novo assembling with reference-based mapping. Compared with the constant normal temperature (15°C) and high temperature (20°C) treatments, in plants exposed to 20°C for only 24 h to induce HTSP resistance, there were 1,395 differentially expressed genes, which were mainly located on B chromosomes using the Chinese Spring wheat genome as a reference. The hub protein (phosphatase 2C10), several resistance protein homologues, WRKY transcription factors and protein kinases were among the differentially expressed genes; most of these genes were up-regulated in seedlings with induced HTSP resistance. The HTSP resistance was induced by changing temperature in XY 6. Phosphatase 2C10 and serine/threonine-protein kinase may play important roles in the interaction between resistance proteins in the HTSP resistance, leading to the typical characteristics of hypersensitive reaction. The results help understand this type of resistance.

Technical Abstract: Background: Stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), is a destructive disease of wheat worldwide. Previous studies showed that seedlings of a susceptible cultivar XY 6 can be induced to be resistant against Pst when exposed to a short period of high temperature, i.e. high-temperature seedling-plant (HTSP) resistance. HTSP is race non-specific and durable; however, its underlying mechanism is not yet well understood. Method: Thirty cDNA libraries were obtained from seedlings of cv. XY 6 exposed to different temperature treatments and sequenced with Illumina technology. Sequences were assembled by combining de novo assembling with reference-based mapping using CD-HIT-EST (CDMC). Results: Compared with the constant normal temperature (15°C) and high temperature (20°C) treatments, in plants exposed to 20°C for only 24 h (to induce HTSP resistance) there were 1395 differentially expressed genes, which were mainly located on the B chromosomes using the Chinese Spring wheat genome as a reference. The hub protein (phosphatase 2C10), several resistance protein homologues, WRKY transcription factors and protein kinases were among the differentially expressed genes; most of these genes were up-regulated in seedlings with induced HTSP resistance. Conclusion: The HTSP resistance was induced by changing temperature in XY 6. Phosphatase 2C10 and serine/threonine-protein kinase may play important roles in the interaction between R proteins in the HTSP resistance to Pst, leading to the typical characteristics of hypersensitive reaction.