No abstract

Aegilops tauschii, the diploid wild progenitor of the D subgenome of bread wheat, is a reservoir of genetic diversity for improving bread wheat performance and environmental resilience. Here we sequenced 242 Ae. tauschii accessions and compared them to the wheat D subgenome to characterize genomic diversity. We found that a rare lineage of Ae. tauschii geographically restricted to present-day Georgia contributed to the wheat D subgenome in the independent hybridizations that gave rise to modern bread wheat. Through k-mer-based association mapping, we identified discrete genomic regions with candidate genes for disease and pest resistance and demonstrated their functional transfer into wheat by transgenesis and wide crossing, including the generation of a library of hexaploids incorporating diverse Ae. tauschii genomes. Exploiting the genomic diversity of the Ae. tauschii ancestral diploid genome permits rapid trait discovery and functional genetic validation in a hexaploid background amenable to breeding.

Aegilops tauschii, the diploid wild progenitor of the D-subgenome of bread wheat, constitutes a reservoir of genetic diversity for improving bread wheat performance and environmental resilience. To better define and understand this diversity, we sequenced 242 Ae. tauschii accessions and compared them to the wheat D-subgenome. We characterized a rare, geographically-restricted lineage of Ae. tauschii and discovered that it contributed to the wheat D-subgenome, thereby elucidating the origin of bread wheat from at least two independent hybridizations. We then used k-mer-based association mapping to identify discrete genomic regions with candidate genes for disease and pest resistance and demonstrated their functional transfer into wheat by transgenesis and wide crossing, including the generation of a library of ‘synthetic’ hexaploids incorporating diverse Ae. tauschii genomes. This pipeline permits rapid trait discovery in the diploid ancestor through to functional genetic validation in a hexaploid background amenable to breeding.

Since emerging in Brazil in 1985, wheat blast has spread throughout South America and recently appeared in Bangladesh and Zambia. Here we show that two wheat resistance genes, Rwt3 and Rwt4, acting as host-specificity barriers against non-Triticum blast pathotypes encode a nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat immune receptor and a tandem kinase, respectively. Molecular isolation of these genes will enable study of the molecular interaction between pathogen effector and host resistance genes.

Gene regulatory networks are often partitioned into different types of recurring network motifs. A feed-forward loop (FFL) is a common motif in which an upstream regulator is a protein, typically a transcription factor, that regulates the expression of the target protein in two ways -first, directly by regulating the mRNA levels of the target protein and second, indirectly via an intermediate molecule that in turn regulates the target protein level. Investigations on two variants of FFLpurely transcriptional FFL (tFFL) and sRNA-mediated FFL (smFFL) reveal several advantages of using such motifs. Here, we study a distinct sRNA-driven FFL (sFFL) that was discovered recently in Salmonella enterica: The distinction being the upstream regulator here is not a protein but an sRNA that translationally activates the target protein expression directly; and also indirectly via regulation of the transcriptional activator of the target protein. This variant, i.e. sFFL has not been subjected to rigorous analysis. We, therefore, set out to understand two aspects. First is a quantitative comparison of the regulatory response of sFFL with tFFL and smFFL using a differential equation framework. Since the process of gene expression is inherently stochastic, the second objective is to find how noise in gene expression affects the functionality of the sFFL. We find that unlike for tFFL and smFFL, the response of sFFL is stronger and faster: the change in target protein concentration is rapid and depends critically on the initial concentration of sRNA. Further, our analysis based on generating function approach and stochastic simulations leads to a non-trivial prediction that an optimal noise filtration can be attained depending on the synthesis rate of the upstream sRNA and the degradation rate of the intermediate transcriptional activator. A comparison with a simpler process involving only translational activation by sRNA indicates that the design of sFFL is crucial for optimal noise filtration. These observations prompt us to conclude that sFFL has distinct advantages where the master regulator, sRNA, plays a critical role not only in driving a rapid and strong response, but also a reliable response that depends critically on its concentration.

Since emerging in Brazil in 1985, wheat blast has spread throughout South America and recently appeared in Bangladesh and Zambia. We show that two wheat resistance genes, Rwt3 and Rwt4, acting as host-specificity barriers against non-Triticum blast pathotypes encode a nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat immune receptor and a tandem kinase, respectively. Molecular isolation of these genes allowed us to develop assays that will ensure the inclusion of these two genes in the wheat cultivars to forestall the recurrence of blast host jumps.

No abstract

B. (2022). Identification of a UDP -glucosyltransferase conferring deoxynivalenol resistance in Aegilops tauschii and wheat. Plant Biotechnology Journal. Portico.