Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
7235025 | Biotechnology Reports | 2016 | 9 Pages |
Abstract
Ustilago tritici causes loose smut, which is a seed-borne fungal disease of wheat, and responsible for yield losses up to 40%. Loose smut is a threat to seed production in developing countries where small scale farmers use their own harvest as seed material. The killer protein 4 (KP4) is a virally encoded toxin from Ustilago maydis and inhibits growth of susceptible races of fungi from the Ustilaginales. Enhanced resistance in KP4 wheat to stinking smut, which is caused by Tilletia caries, had been reported earlier. We show that KP4 in genetically engineered wheat increased resistance to loose smut up to 60% compared to the non-KP4 control under greenhouse conditions. This enhanced resistance is dose and race dependent. The overexpression of the transgene kp4 and its effect on fungal growth have indirect effects on the expression of endogenous pathogen defense genes.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Energy
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Authors
Carolina Diaz Quijano, Fabienne Wichmann, Thomas Schlaich, Alessandro Fammartino, Jana Huckauf, Kerstin Schmidt, Christoph Unger, Inge Broer, Christof Sautter,