Heterotrimeric G protein interacts with MLO1 to regulate a trade-off between disease resistance and growth in wheat

The molecular mechanisms underlying the balance between disease resistance and growth in wheat remain largely unclear. Here, we report that CRISPR/Cas9-guided gene-editing mutants of wheat G alpha subunit exhibit compact plant architecture and enhanced resistance against powdery mildew but with a compromise in yield traits. RNA-seq analyses show that some growth-related genes were down-regulated while some disease resistance-related genes were up-regulated in the Tagα-aabbdd mutant. We demonstrate that the C-terminal peptide^403-534 of TaMLO1 mediates the interaction with TaGα. Furthermore, TaMLO1 can significantly interfere with the interaction between TaGα and TaGβ. Taken together, we discover the functional association of TaMLO1 and heterotrimeric G protein in regulating a trade-off between disease resistance and growth in wheat.