Encasement ofErysiphe graminishaustoria after treatment with bromuconazole

Efficacy of Fungicide Applications During and After Anthesis Against Fusarium Head Blight and Deoxynivalenol in Soft Red Winter Wheat

Seven field experiments were conducted in Ohio and Illinois between 2011 and 2013 to evaluate postanthesis applications of prothioconazole + tebuconazole and metconazole for Fusarium head blight and deoxynivalenol (DON) control in soft red winter wheat. Treatments consisted of an untreated check and fungicide applications made at early anthesis (A), 2 (A+2), 4 (A+4), 5 (A+5), or 6 (A+6) days after anthesis. Six of the seven experiments were augmented with artificial Fusarium graminearum inoculum, and the other was naturally infected. FHB index (IND), Fusarium damaged kernels (FDK), and DON concentration of grain were quantified. All application timings led to significantly lower mean arcsine-square-root-transformed IND and FDK (arcIND and arcFDK) and log-transformed (logDON) than in the untreated check; however, arcIND, arcFDK, and logDON for the postanthesis applications were generally not significantly different from those for the anthesis applications. Relative to the check, A+2 resulted in the highest percent control for both IND and DON, 69 and 54%, respectively, followed by A+4 (62 and 52%), A+6 (62 and 48%), and A (56 and 50%). A+2 and A+6 significantly reduced IND by 30 and 14%, respectively, relative to the anthesis application. Postanthesis applications did not, however, reduce DON relative to the anthesis application. These results suggest that applications made up to 6 days following anthesis may be just as effective as, and sometimes more effective than, anthesis applications at reducing FHB and DON.

Extracellular transport and integration of plant secretory proteins into pathogen-induced cell wall compartments

Many fungal parasites enter plant cells by penetrating the host cell wall and, thereafter, differentiate specialized intracellular feeding structures, called haustoria, by invagination of the plant's plasma membrane. Arabidopsis PEN gene products are known to act at the cell periphery and function in the execution of apoplastic immune responses to limit fungal entry. This response underneath fungal contact sites is tightly linked with the deposition of plant cell wall polymers, including PMR4/GSL5-dependent callose, in the paramural space, thereby producing localized wall thickenings called papillae. We show that powdery mildew fungi specifically induce the extracellular transport and entrapment of the fusion protein GFP-PEN1 syntaxin and its interacting partner monomeric yellow fluorescent protein (mYFP)-SNAP33 within the papillary matrix. Remarkably, PMR4/GSL5 callose, GFP-PEN1, mYFP-SNAP33, and the ABC transporter GFP-PEN3 are selectively incorporated into extracellular encasements surrounding haustoria of the powdery mildew Golovinomyces orontii, suggesting that the same secretory defense responses become activated during the formation of papillae and haustorial encasements. This is consistent with a time-course analysis of the encasement process, indicating that these extracellular structures are generated through the extension of papillae. We show that PMR4/GSL5 callose accumulation in papillae and haustorial encasements occurs independently of PEN1 syntaxin. We propose a model in which exosome biogenesis/release serves as a common transport mechanism by which the proteins PEN1 and PEN3, otherwise resident in the plasma membrane, together with membrane lipids, become stably incorporated into both pathogen-induced cell wall compartments.