Under attack by a cereal killer: the hunt for disease susceptibility factors

受到谷物杀手的攻击：寻找疾病易感因素

• 批准号: 2749640
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of East Anglia
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2749640
• 关键词: Under; attack; cereal; killer; hunt

Wheat rusts are a continual global threat to wheat production, with the potential to cause total crop loss in untreated susceptible varieties. Traditionally the most effective means of controlling wheat rust has been deployment of resistant wheat varieties, through integration of partial or race-specific resistance genes. However, these race-specific resistance genes are easily overcome by small genetic changes in the pathogen's effector repertoire. As an alternative, disrupting the function of host genes that play essential roles in pathogen colonization (i.e., susceptibility factors) can act as a more durable form of host resistance. The best-known example is loss of function of the mildew-resistance locus (Mlo) in barley, which enhances powdery mildew resistance and has been widely manipulated in breeding pipelines. The Research Group recently identified a number of wheat genes linked to rust susceptibility that have great potential to act as new sources of non-race-specific resistance. The aim of this project will be to functionally characterise these genes and their role during pathogen ingress. This collaborative project will seek to (i) evaluate the expression of a number of these genes during rust infection, (ii) determine their function through gene manipulation, (iii) assess their role during progression of rust disease, and (iv) assess their utility in plant breeding.

小麦锈病是对小麦生产的持续的全球性威胁，在未经处理的易感品种中可能导致全部作物损失。传统上，控制小麦锈病的最有效手段是通过整合部分或小种特异性抗性基因来部署抗性小麦品种。然而，这些种族特异性的抗性基因很容易克服病原体的效应库的小的遗传变化。作为替代方案，破坏在病原体定殖中起重要作用的宿主基因的功能（即，易感性因子）可以作为宿主抗性的更持久形式。最著名的例子是大麦中抗白粉病基因座（Mlo）的功能丧失，该基因座增强了对白粉病的抗性，并在育种管道中被广泛操纵。该研究小组最近发现了一些与锈病易感性相关的小麦基因，这些基因具有很大的潜力，可以作为非种族特异性抗性的新来源。该项目的目的是功能性地鉴定这些基因及其在病原体侵入过程中的作用。该合作项目将寻求（i）评估这些基因在锈病感染过程中的表达，（ii）通过基因操作确定它们的功能，（iii）评估它们在锈病进展过程中的作用，以及（iv）评估它们在植物育种中的效用。