ARS | Publication request: Generation and analysis of expression sequence tags from haustoria of the wheat stripe rust fungus Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici

Submitted to: APS Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: June 4, 2008
Publication Date: June 27, 2008
Citation: Yin, C., Chen, X., Zhensheng, K., Hulbert, S. 2008. Generation and analysis of expression sequence tags from haustoria of the wheat stripe rust fungus Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici. APS Annual Meeting. phyto 98:S117.

Technical Abstract: Stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), is a destructive disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) worldwide. Like other rust fungi, Pst forms haustoria, which are specialized structures that develop within host cells and are believed to play an essential role in nutrient uptake, vitamin synthesis, and the suppression of host defenses. A haustorial cDNA library of the fungal pathogen was constructed. A total of 3,711 EST sequences with high quality were generated. Assembly of the sequences resulted in 1,253 unigenes, of which 1004 originated from singletons while 249 were represented by more than one EST. BlastX searches identified 86 (7%) of the unigenes were similar to proteins of known function (e-value < 1.00E-5), 190 (15%) were similar to proteins of unknown function, and 977 (78%) showed no significant matches. Seventy-nine of the unigenes were predicted to code for proteins that were secreted from haustoria. Quantitative RT-PCR studies revealed that some of the cDNAs were specifically expressed in plants. Methods for transient expression of these secreted protein-like genes in wheat plants are under development.