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Quantitative and temporal definition of the Mla transcriptional regulon during barley-powdery mildew interactions

Matthew J Moscou1, Nick Lauter, Rico A Caldo

  • 1Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA.

Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions : MPMI
|February 18, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Barley

Area of Science:

  • Plant pathology
  • Molecular genetics
  • Plant immunity

Background:

  • Barley Mildew resistance locus a (Mla) genes confer immunity to powdery mildew.
  • Mla proteins are coiled-coil, nucleotide binding site, leucine-rich repeat (NB-LRR) proteins.
  • Mla-mediated resistance is triggered by pathogen avirulence effectors (AVR(a)) leading to nuclear translocation of MLA.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify conserved transcriptional targets of MLA.
  • To elucidate downstream signaling cascades in barley powdery mildew resistance.
  • To determine the timing of gene expression changes during plant-pathogen interaction.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative transcriptomic analysis of barley plants with functional Mla alleles versus loss-of-function mutants.
  • Time-course gene expression profiling at various hours after inoculation (HAI).
  • Quantitative analysis to identify differentially expressed genes.

Main Results:

  • Plant immune response gene expression strengthens over time in resistant barley.
  • Gene expression differences between resistant and susceptible plants emerge by 16 HAI.
  • Identified 28 candidate transcriptional targets of the MLA regulon.

Conclusions:

  • Multiple signaling pathways are involved in the barley hypersensitive reaction.
  • MLA regulates a network of genes crucial for powdery mildew resistance.
  • Early timepoints (around 16 HAI) are critical for resistance outcome.

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