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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Tifton, Georgia » Crop Protection and Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #252102
Title: Evaluation of the expression of genes associated with resistance to Aspergillus flavus colonization and aflatoxin production in different maize lines

Author
item Fountain, Jake
item CHEN, XHI-YUAN - Louisiana State University
item Scully, Brian
item KEMERAIT, ROBERT - University Of Georgia
item LEE, DEWEY - University Of Georgia
item Guo, Baozhu

Submitted to: American Phytopathological Society Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/1/2010
Publication Date: 6/1/2010
Citation: Fountain, J.C. Chen, X.Y. Scully, B.T. Kemerait, R.C. Lee, D.L. Guo, B. 2010. Evaluation of the expression of genes associated with resistance to Aspergillus flavus coloization and aflatoxin production in different maize lines. Phytopathology. 100:537.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Aflatoxins are carcinogenic toxic compounds produced by Aspergillus flavus during infection of crops including maize (Zea mays L.). Contamination of maize with aflatoxin is exacerbated by late season drought stress. Previous studies have implicated numerous resistance-associated proteins (RAPs) that may be responsible for resistance to A. flavus colonization and aflatoxin accumulation. This study examined the expression of three genes encoding RAPs, ZmPR-10 (PR-10), glyoxalase I (GLX-I), and a 14-kDa trypsin inhibitor (TI-14), in different maize genotypes under drought stressed and irrigated conditions to determine their potential utility as molecular markers for germplasm screening and evaluation utilizing quantitative real-time PCR. Results suggested that drought stress during kernel development affected gene expressions differently in different genotypes. Results were generally consistent with expectations in that RAP-coding gene expressions correlated well to known resistant traits of the examined genotypes. However, more genotypes should be studied in order to apply these genes’ expression as selection markers.