Disease Resistance in Maize and the Role of Molecular Breeding in Defending Against Global Threat

Abstract

Diseases are a potential threat to global food security but plants have evolved an extensive array of methodologies to cope with the invading pathogens. Non-host resistance and quantitative resistance are broad spectrum forms of resistance, and all kinds of resistances are controlled by extremely diverse genes called "R-genes". R-genes follow different mechanisms to defend plants and PAMP-induced defenses in susceptible host plants are referred to as basal resistance. Genetic and phenotypic diversity are vital in maize (Zea mays L.); as such, genome wide association study (GWAS) along with certain other methodologies can explore the maximum means of genetic diversity. Exploring the complete genetic architecture to manipulate maize genetically reduces the losses from hazardous diseases. Genomic studies can reveal the interaction between different genes and their pathways. By confirming the specific role of these genes and protein-protein interaction (proteomics) via advanced molecular and bioinformatics tools, we can shed a light on the most complicated and abstruse phenomena of resistance.

Identification of significant single nucleotide polymorphisms for resistance to maize rough dwarf disease in elite maize (Zea mays L.) inbred lines

“…The SNPs of PZE-102123986 and PZE-102124518 in bin 2.06 were located near the region as QTLs for maize fine streak virus (MFSV) and maize mosaic virus (MMV) resistance in a previous study (Zambrano et al 2014). These results suggest that some QTLs conferring resistance to multiple viral diseases might be located in these regions, exhibiting multiple disease resistance (MDR) (Ali and Yan 2012). Besides the regions mentioned above, other new regions harboring associated SNPs were also identified to be significant for MRDD resistance.…”

“…Exploring the complete genetic architecture to manipulate maize genetically might reduce the losses from this hazardous disease (Ali and Yan 2012). The development of genomics has provided alternative tools to improve breeding efficiency in plant breeding programs, such as molecular markers linked to causal genes and/or QTLs that could be used for marker-assisted selection (MAS) in gene pyramiding (Hao et al 2012b;Xu and Crouch 2008;Collard et al 2005).…”

Effect of different temperature levels and time intervals on germination of uredospores of Puccinia sorghi

“…Among the cereals, the maize is the fifth largest in area, third largest in output and yield. Maize is attacked by many diseases in kharif, rabi and summer seasons which are responsible for severe reduction in yield (Ali and Yan, 2012;Dey et al, 2012). The common rust of maize caused by Puccinia sorghi Schw is a severe disease on maize among all foliar diseases.…”

Simple sequence repeat markers associated with anthracnose and <i>Turcicum</i> leaf blight resistance in sorghum

“…Indeed, SSRs Xtxp25 and Xtxp201 for anthracnose and Xtxp302, Xtxp25, Xtxp295 and Xtxp95 for TLB were associated with dominant epistasis, and were distributed across sorghum genome with high PIC and gene diversity frequencies. Other studies show a high association for the same SSRs to resistance in maize, to the foliar diseases TLB, and grey leaf spot on maize (Paterson, 2008;Mace et al, 2009;Mohan et al, 2010;Ali and Yan, 2012). In maize, resistance QTL associated with TLB, grey leaf spot and southern leaf blight are randomly Anthracnose (source of resistance was Epuripuri) distributed in the genome, but clustered at different regions of the chromosomes (Ali et al, 2013).…”