Gene co-expression network analysis provides a novel insight into the dynamic response of wheat to powdery mildew stress

Powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis f. sp. Tritici, (Bgt)) is an important worldwide fungal foliar disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum) responsible for severe yield losses. The development of resistance genes and dissection of the resistance mechanism will therefore be beneficial in wheat breeding. The Bgt resistance gene PmAS846 was transferred to the hexaploid wheat lines N9134 from Triticum dicoccoides, and it is still one of the most effective resistance genes. Here, by RNA sequencing, we identified three co-expressed gene modules using pairwise comparisons and weighted gene co-expression network analysis during wheat–Bgt interactions compared with mock-infected plants. Hub genes of stress-specific modules were significantly enriched in spliceosomes, phagosomes, the mRNA surveillance pathway, protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum, and endocytosis. Induced module genes located on chromosome 5BL were selected to construct a protein–protein interaction network. Several proteins were predicted as the key hub node, including Hsp70, DEAD/DEAH box RNA helicase PRH75, elongation factor EF-2, cell division cycle 5, ARF guanine-nucleotide exchange factor GNOM-like, and protein phosphatase 2C 70 protein, which interacted with several disease resistance proteins such as RLP37, RPP13 and RPS2 analogues. Gene ontology enrichment results showed that wheat could activate binding functional genes via an mRNA transcription mechanism in response to Bgt stress. Of these node genes, GNOM-like, PP2C isoform X1 and transmembrane 9 superfamily member 9 were mapped onto the genetic fragment of PmAS846 with a distance of 4.8 Mb. This work provides the foundations for understanding the resistance mechanism and cloning the resistance gene PmAS846

Critical yield-point model to estimate damage caused by brown spot and powdery mildew in barley / Modelo do ponto crítico para estimar danos causados pela mancha-marrom e oídio em cevada

Barley (Hordeum vulgaris L.) is the second most important winter crop in Southern Brazil. The excessive rainfall in this region during the crop-growing season increases the frequency and intensity of foliar fungal diseases. The research aimed to determine the damage function equations (DFE) for the multiple pathosystem of barley brown spot and powdery mildew based on the relationship between grain yield and diseases intensity at different 'BRS Cauê' cultivar growth stages (GS) during 2009 and 2010 growing seasons in Southern Brazil. The experiments were arranged in a randomized complete block design with nine treatments and four replicates. The disease gradients were generated by strobilurins and triazols fungicides rates and number of applications on barley cv. Cauê. The fungicide applications and disease incidence and severity assessments were performed at the 22, 31, 39, 45 and 56 plant GS. The DFE were obtained by variance analysis and linear regression between grain yield and diseases intensity. Significant and negative DFE were obtained and the damage coefficients (DC) varied from 29.48 to 100.08 (2009) and from 36.08 to 113.57kg ha-1 (2010) for incidence, and from 219.5 to 6,276.6 (2009) and 102.3 to 5,292.5kg ha-1 (2010) for severity. The largest damage coefficients were obtained when diseases assessments were made on GS 22 and 31 on both growing seasons evaluated. DFE were used to calculate the economic damage threshold (EDT) as a criterion to indicate the fungicide application moment to control the diseases in cultivars similar to 'BRS Cauê' in Southern Brazil.

A cevada (Hordeum vulgaris L.) é a segunda mais importante cultura de inverno no Sul do Brasil. Nessa região, o excesso de chuvas durante a estação de crescimento da cultura favorece o aumento na frequência e intensidade de doenças foliares. O trabalho objetivou determinar as equações de função de dano (EFD) para o patossistema múltiplo mancha-marrom e oídio da cevada pela relação entre rendimento de grãos e intensidade foliar das doenças em diferentes estádios fenológicos da cultivar de cevada 'BRS Cauê', nas safras 2009 e 2010 no sul do Brasil. O delineamento foi em blocos casualizados com nove tratamentos e quatro repetições. Os tratamentos foram constituídos de diferentes doses e número de aplicações dos fungicidas triazóis e estrobilurinas para gerar os gradientes de intensidade das doenças. As aplicações de fungicidas e as avaliações da incidência e severidade foliar foram realizadas nos estádios fenológicos (EF) 22, 31, 39, 45 e 56. As equações foram obtidas pela análise de variância e regressão linear entre rendimento de grãos e intensidade das doenças. As EFD foram significativas e negativas e os coeficientes de danos variaram de 29,48 a 100,08kg ha-1 (2009) e 36,08 a 113,57kg ha-1 ( 2010) para a incidência e de 219,5 a 6.276,6kg ha-1 ( 2009) e 102,3 a 5.292,5kg ha-1 (2010). Os maiores coeficientes de dano foram obtidos nos estádios EF 22 e 31em ambas as safras. As EFD foram usadas para calcular o limiar de dano econômico, que é um critério que indica o correto momento de aplicação de fungicidas para o controle das doenças em cultivares similares a 'BRS Cauê' no sul do Brasil.