Candidate gene based association mapping in Fusarium culmorum for field quantitative pathogenicity and mycotoxin production in wheat

Abstract

BackgroundQuantitative traits are common in nature, but quantitative pathogenicity has received only little attention in phytopathology. In this study, we used 100 Fusarium culmorum isolates collected from natural field environments to assess their variation for two quantitative traits, aggressiveness and deoxynivalenol (DON) production on wheat plants grown in four different field environments (location-year combinations). Seventeen Fusarium graminearum pathogenicity candidate genes were assessed for their effect on the aggressiveness and DON production of F. culmorum under field conditions.ResultsFor both traits, genotypic variance among isolates was high and significant while the isolate-by-environment interaction was also significant, amounting to approximately half of the genotypic variance. Among the studied candidate genes, the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) HOG1 was found to be significantly associated with aggressiveness and deoxynivalenol (DON) production, explaining 10.29 and 6.05% of the genotypic variance, respectively. ConclusionsTo the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a protein kinase regulator explaining differences in field aggressiveness and mycotoxin production among individuals from natural populations of a plant pathogen.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12863-017-0511-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Be flexible and adapt easily—The great role of plasticity relative to genetic variation for aggressiveness of Fusarium culmorum isolates

“…However, studies searching for resistance QTL in wheat (Anderson et al, ; Buerstmayr et al, ) and aggressiveness in Fusarium spp. (Castiblanco et al, ; Talas et al, ) involved only one pathogen isolate (in the search of resistance) or one host genotype (in the search of aggressiveness). Here, we could show that the same isolates are able to infect all four host species without significant rank changes, thus demonstrating the broad‐spectrum expectation for this quantitative host–pathogen interaction.…”

“…However, studies searching for resistance QTL in wheat (Anderson et al, 2001;Buerstmayr et al, 2002) and aggressiveness in Fusarium spp. (Castiblanco et al, 2017;Talas et al, 2012) involved only one pathogen isolate (in the search of resistance) or one host genotype (in the search of aggressiveness).…”

“…Aggressiveness is of complex inheritance with many genes, each contributing only to a small part of the total variation. Recently, a candidate gene‐based association study reported an association of mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) HOG1 gene with aggressiveness and deoxynivalenol (DON) accumulation, explaining 10.29 and 6.05% of the genotypic variance in wheat, respectively, and of a cutinase gene explaining 16.05% of genotypic variance in rye (Castiblanco et al, ; Castiblanco, Marulanda, Würschum, & Miedaner, ). The role of DON in the different phases of the Fusarium life cycle (e.g.…”

Identification of Novel Quantitative Trait Loci Linked to Crown Rot Resistance in Spring Wheat

“…Despite these reports, no variety with adequate level of resistance to F. culmorum is currently available and research on genomic regions associated with resistance to F. culmorum has received no attention. Recently, a candidate gene-based association study reported association of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) HOG1 gene with aggressiveness and deoxynivalenol (DON) production, explaining 10.29 and 6.05% of the genotypic variance, respectively [ 35 ]. This present study aims to improve resistance of spring bread wheat to F. culmorum with the following objectives: (i) analyze resistance responses of spring bread wheat accessions to F. culmorum , and (ii) use GWAS to identify novel genomic loci conferring resistance to F. culmorum .…”

Cereal Root Interactions with Soilborne Pathogens—From Trait to Gene and Back

“…Fungal pathogenicity factors, including secreted cell-wall degrading enzymes, phytotoxins, and cell death-inducing proteins, have been described [89,101]. Certain isolates of F. culmorum produce the toxins nivalenol and deoxynivalenol, which contribute to yield losses caused by F. graminearum in Fusarium head blight of cereals [8,35,102,103]. A possible candidate for HIGS in F. culmorum arose from observations of developmental and metabolic defects associated with mutations in the StuA transcription factor gene [30].…”