Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Cereal Crops Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #373121
Research Project: Improvement of Biotic Stress Resistance in Durum and Hard Red Spring Wheat Using Genetics and Genomics

Location: Cereal Crops Research

Title: Horizontal gene transfer of Fhb7 from fungus underlies Fusarium head blight resistance in wheat

Author
item WANG, HONGWEI - SHANDONG AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
item SUN, SILONG - SHANDONG AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
item GE, WENYANG - SHANDONG AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
item ZHAO, LANFEI - SHANDONG AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
item HOU, BINGQIAN - SHANDONG AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
item WANG, KAI - NOVOGENE BIOINFORMATICS INSTITUE
item LYU, ZHONGFAN - SHANDONG AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
item CHEN, LIYANG - NOVOGENE BIOINFORMATICS INSTITUE
item XU, SHOUSHEN - SHANDONG AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
item GUO, JUN - SHANDONG AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
item Xu, Steven
item Bai, Guihua

Submitted to: Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/26/2020
Publication Date: 4/9/2020
Citation: Wang, H., Sun, S., Ge, W., Zhao, L., Hou, B., Wang, K., Lyu, Z., Chen, L., Xu, S., Guo, J., Xu, S.S., Bai, G. 2020. Horizontal gene transfer of Fhb7 from fungus underlies Fusarium head blight resistance in wheat. Science. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aba5435.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aba5435

Interpretive Summary: Fusarium head blight (FHB), a disease caused by fungal pathogens that produce food toxins, currently devastates wheat production worldwide, yet few resistance resources have been discovered in wheat germplasm. In this study, we cloned the FHB resistance gene Fhb7 based on assembling the genome of a wild wheatgrass species. Our study showed that Fhb7 confers broad resistance to the fungal pathogens causing FHB via detoxification of food toxins. The wheatgrass gained Fhb7 via gene transfer from a fungal species that colonizes with temperate grasses. When transferred into wheat, Fhb7 confers FHB resistance in diverse wheat backgrounds without yield penalty, providing a solution for FHB resistance breeding in wheat. Moreover, the assembled wheatgrass genome and molecular and biochemical characterization of the cloned Fhb7 provide new knowledge and tools to scientists across a wide range of communities, including those working on plant-pathogen interactions, cereal genomics, plant genome evolution, genetic modification of plants, and plant breeding for disease resistance.

Technical Abstract: Fusarium head blight (FHB), a fungal disease caused by Fusarium species that produce food toxins, currently devastates wheat production worldwide, yet few resistance resources have been discovered in wheat germplasm. Here, we cloned the FHB resistance gene Fhb7 based on assembling the genome of Thinopyrum elongatum, a species used in wheat distant hybridization breeding. Fhb7 encodes a glutathione S-transferase and confers broad resistance to Fusarium species by detoxifying trichothecenes via de-epoxidation. Lacking homologs in plants, our evidence supports Th. elongatum has gained Fhb7 via horizontal gene transfer (HGT) from an endophytic Epichloë species that establishes symbiosis with temperate grasses. Introgressed into wheat, Fhb7 confers resistance to both FHB and crown rot in diverse wheat backgrounds without yield penalty, providing a solution for Fusarium resistance breeding.