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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Crop Improvement and Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #366981
Research Project: New Genetic Resources for Breeding Better Wheat and Bioenergy Crops

Location: Crop Improvement and Genetics Research

Title: A rare gain of function mutation in a wheat tandem kinase confers resistance to powdery mildew

Author
item LU, P. - Chinese Academy Of Sciences
item GUO, L. - Chinese Academy Of Sciences
item WANG, Z. - Chinese Academy Of Sciences
item LI, B. - Chinese Academy Of Sciences
item LI, J. - Beijing University Of Agriculture
item LI, Y. - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item QIU, D. - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item SHI, W. - Hubei Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item YANG, L. - Hubei Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item WANG, N. - Chinese Academy Of Sciences
item GUO, G. - Chinese Academy Of Sciences
item XIE, J. - Chinese Academy Of Sciences
item WU, Q. - Chinese Academy Of Sciences
item CHEN, Y. - Chinese Academy Of Sciences
item LI, M. - Chinese Academy Of Sciences
item ZHANG, H. - Chinese Academy Of Sciences
item DONG, L. - Chinese Academy Of Sciences
item ZHANG, P. - Chinese Academy Of Sciences
item ZHU, K. - Chinese Academy Of Sciences
item YU, D. - Chinese Academy Of Sciences
item ZHANG, Y. - Chinese Academy Of Sciences
item DEAL, K. - University Of California, Davis
item HUO, N. - University Of California, Davis
item LIU, C. - Chinese Academy Of Sciences
item LUO, M.-C. - University Of California, Davis
item DVORAK, J. - University Of California, Davis
item Gu, Yong
item LI, H. - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item LIU, Z. - Chinese Academy Of Sciences

Submitted to: Nature Communications
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/19/2019
Publication Date: 2/3/2020
Citation: Lu, P., Guo, L., Wang, Z., Li, B., Li, J., Li, Y., Qiu, D., Shi, W., Yang, L., Wang, N., Guo, G., Xie, J., Wu, Q., Chen, Y., Li, M., Zhang, H., Dong, L., Zhang, P., Zhu, K., Yu, D., Zhang, Y., Deal, K., Huo, N., Liu, C., Luo, M., Dvorak, J., Gu, Y.Q., Li, H., Liu, Z. 2020. A rare gain of function mutation in a wheat tandem kinase confers resistance to powdery mildew. Nature Communications. 11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14294-0.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14294-0

Interpretive Summary: Wheat provides 20% of the total daily calories and protein consumed by humankind. Diseases and pests are a serious threat to the production of wheat grain and the global food supply. Powdery mildew is an important wheat disease that has caused severe yield losses worldwide. Due to the rapid evolution of microbial pathogens, crop resistance genes often lose their function soon after the emergence of new virulent isolates. Therefore, the development of wheat cultivars with broad-spectrum resistance to powdery mildew is a preferred breeding strategy. In this work, we report the isolation and characterization of a durable and broad-spectrum powdery mildew resistance gene Pm24 in bread wheat. The resistance function of Pm24 was confirmed by allelic association analyses as well as the characterization of transgenic and mutant plants. This research provides useful knowledge and resources for improving wheat disease resistance through conventional breeding and/or biotechnological approaches.

Technical Abstract: Powdery mildew, caused by Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici (Bgt), is one of the most destructive wheat diseases and poses a great threat to wheat production worldwide. Race-specific powdery mildew resistance genes tend to be overcome by the emergence of new virulent Bgt isolates, whereas broad-spectrum resistance genes are usually more robust. Here, we report the map-based cloning of Pm24 encoding a wheat tandem kinase (WTK) that is responsible for broad-spectrum powdery mildew resistance in four Chinese wheat landraces. The resistance function of Pm24 was validated by transgenic complementation, multiple independent mutants, and allelic association analyses. Haplotype analysis revealed that a rare 6-bp natural deletion of lysine-glycine codons, endemic to wheat landraces of Shaanxi Province, China, in the kinase I domain of WTK is critical for the gain of function for powdery mildew resistance. Transgenic assay of chimeric constructs indicated that only the specific two amino acid deletion, rather than any of the single or more amino acid deletions, is responsible for gaining the resistance function of WTK against the Bgt fungus. Moreover, we showed that limited re-location of the WTK protein from cytoplasm into nucleus appears to be the consequence of the lysine-glycine deletion in the functional Pm24, suggesting that the protein transportation into nucleus is required for its function in disease resistance.