Arabidopsis is susceptible to the cereal ear blight fungal pathogens Fusarium graminearum and Fusarium culmorum

A - Papers appearing in refereed journals

Urban, M., Daniels, S., Mott, E. and Hammond-Kosack, K. E. 2002. Arabidopsis is susceptible to the cereal ear blight fungal pathogens Fusarium graminearum and Fusarium culmorum. The Plant Journal. 32 (6), pp. 961-973. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-313X.2002.01480.x

AuthorsUrban, M., Daniels, S., Mott, E. and Hammond-Kosack, K. E.
Abstract

The fungal pathogens Fusarium graminearum and F. culmorum cause ear blight disease on cereal crops worldwide. The disease lowers both grain quality and grain safety. Disease prevalence is increasing due to changes in cropping practices and the difficulties encountered by plant breeders when trying to introgress the polygene-based resistance. The molecular basis of resistance to Fusarium ear blight in cereal species is poorly understood. This is primarily due to the large size of cereal genomes and the expensive resources required to undertake gene function studies in cereals. We therefore explored the possibility of developing various model floral infection systems that would be more amenable to experimental manipulation and high-throughput gene function studies. The floral tissues of tobacco, tomato, soybean and Arabidopsis were inoculated with Fusarium conidia and this resulted in disease symptoms on anthers, anther filaments and petals in each plant species. However, only in Arabidopsis did this initial infection then spread into the developing siliques and seeds. A survey of 236 Arabidopsis ecotypes failed to identify a single genotype that was extremely resistant or susceptible to Fusarium floral infections. Three Arabidopsis floral mutants that failed to develop anthers and/or functional pollen (i.e. agamous-1, apetala1-3 and dad1 ) were significantly less susceptible to Fusarium floral infection than wild type. Deoxynivalenol (DON) mycotoxin production was also detected in Fusarium -infected flowers at >1 ppm. This novel floral pathosystem for Arabidopsis appears to be highly representative of a serious cereal crop disease.

KeywordsPlant Sciences
Year of Publication2002
JournalThe Plant Journal
Journal citation32 (6), pp. 961-973
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-313X.2002.01480.x
PubMed ID12492838
Open accessPublished as bronze (free) open access
FunderBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Funder project or code424
505
Publisher's version
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online20 Dec 2002
Publication process dates
Accepted10 Sep 2002
PublisherWiley
Wiley-Blackwell
ISSN0960-7412

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