Abstract
Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a severe disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Qfhb1 is the most important quantitative trait locus (QTL) for FHB resistance. We previously identified wheat gene WFhb1-1 (aka WFhb1-c1) as a candidate for FHB resistance gene. Here we report that WFhb1-1 has been cloned. The gene (GenBank # KU304333.1) consists of a single exon, encoding a putative membrane protein of 127 amino acids. WFhb1-1 protein produced in Pichia pastoris inhibits growth of both F. graminearum and P. pastoris in culture. Western Blotting with anti- WFhb1-1 antibody revealed a significant decrease (p < 0.01) in WFhb1-1 accumulation, 12 hours post Fusarium inoculation in non-Qfhb1-carrier wheat but not in Qfhb1-carrier wheat. Overexpressing WFhb1-1 in non-Qfhb1-carrier wheat led to a significant decrease (p < 0.01) in Fusarium-damaged rachis rate, Fusarium-diseased kernel rate and DON content in harvested kernels, while silencing WFhb1-1 in Qfhb1-carrier wheat resulted in a significant increase (p < 0.01) in FHB severity. Therefore, WFhb1-1 is an important FHB resistance gene with a potential antifungal function and probably a key functional component of Qfhb1 in wheat. A model regarding how WFhb1-1 functions in FHB resistance/susceptibility is hypothesized and discussed.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 7794 |
| Journal | Scientific reports |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 1 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank Dr. Li Huang of Montana State University for providing the BSMV vector clones and giving us valuable suggestions regarding BSMV inoculation. This research was partially supported by funds from South Dakota Agriculture Experiment Station, and by a USDA-NIFA-AFRI award (2014-67013-21567) and a USDA-ARS-USWBSI award (FY14-HW-003) to YY.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s).