Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Mycotoxin Prevention and Applied Microbiology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #311887
Title: Transgenic wheat and barley carrying a barley UDP-glucosyltransferase exhibit high levels of Fusarium head blight resistance

Author
item LI, XIN - University Of Minnesota
item SHIN, SANGHYUN - University Of Minnesota
item HEINEN, SHANE - University Of Minnesota
item DILL-MACKY, RUTH - University Of Minnesota
item BERTHILLER, FRANZ - University Of Natural Resources & Applied Life Sciences - Austria
item CLEMENTE, THOMAS - University Of Nebraska
item McCormick, Susan
item Chao, Shiaoman
item MUEHLBAUER, GARY - University Of Minnesota

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/9/2014
Publication Date: 12/9/2014
Citation: Li, X., Shin, S., Heinen, S., Dill-Macky, R., Berthiller, F., Clemente, T., McCormick, S.P., Chao, S., Muehlbauer, G.J. 2014. Transgenic wheat and barley carrying a barley UDP-glucosyltransferase exhibit high levels of Fusarium head blight resistance [abstract].

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Fusarium head blight (FHB) is an old yet unsolved problem of cereal crops, mainly caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium graminearum. During infection, trichothecenes produced by Fusarium increase fungal virulence and decrease grain quality. Previous work identified a barley UDP-glucosyltransferase gene (HvUGT13248) that detoxifies deoxynivalenol (DON) by the conversion to DON-3-O-glucoside (D3G) in transgenic yeast and Arabidopsis. Here we report successful development of transgenic wheat and barley overexpressing HvUGT13248 gene. The transgenic wheat show high levels of FHB type II resistance in the greenhouse point inoculation tests. The FHB severity of the transgenic lines were reduced by up to 91% compared to untransformed lines. We also performed spray inoculation tests on these transgenic wheat in the field across three consecutive years, and they also show high levels of FHB resistance. Moreover, transgenic wheat carrying HvUGT13248 converted DON to D3G more rapidly than untransformed plants, and there was also reduced DON accumulation in the grains of the transgenic wheat harvested from the field tests. We developed a fast and convenient method to screen wheat and barley resistance to trichothecenes, by monitoring root growth of seedlings on trichothecene-containing growth media. We used this root assay to show that transgenic barley overexpressing HvUGT13248 exhibit resistance to DON. We also introduced the HvUGT13248 transgene into the elite wheat cultivar Rollag, and the backcross-derived lines exhibited high levels of FHB resistance in the greenhouse and field tests, however, the FHB severity levels were not significantly different from Rollag. This result suggests that the FHB resistance mechanisms provided by the Fhb1 QTL and the HvUGT13248 transgene may overlap.