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Birhanu C, Girma G, Mekbib F, Nida H, Tirfessa A, Lule D, Bekeko Z, Ayana G, Bejiga T, Bedada G, Tola M, Legesse T, Alemu H, Admasu S, Bekele A, Mengiste T. Exploring the genetic basis of anthracnose resistance in Ethiopian sorghum through a genome-wide association study. BMC Genomics 2024; 25:677. [PMID: 38977981 PMCID: PMC11229211 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-024-10545-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2024] [Accepted: 06/20/2024] [Indexed: 07/10/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Sorghum anthracnose is a major disease that hampers the productivity of the crop globally. The disease is caused by the hemibiotrophic fungal pathogen Colletotrichum sublineola. The identification of anthracnose-resistant sorghum genotypes, defining resistance loci and the underlying genes, and their introgression into adapted cultivars are crucial for enhancing productivity. In this study, we conducted field experiments on 358 diverse accessions of Ethiopian sorghum. Quantitative resistance to anthracnose was evaluated at locations characterized by a heavy natural infestation that is suitable for disease resistance screening. RESULTS The field-based screening identified 53 accessions that were resistant across locations, while 213 accessions exhibited variable resistance against local pathotypes. Genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) was performed using disease response scores on 329 accessions and 83,861 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) generated through genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS). We identified 38 loci significantly associated with anthracnose resistance. Interestingly, a subset of these loci harbor genes encoding receptor-like kinases (RLK), nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeats (NLRs), stress-induced antifungal tyrosine kinase that have been previously implicated in disease resistance. A SNP on chromosome 4 (S04_66140995) and two SNPs on chromosome 2 (S02_75784037, S02_2031925), localized with-in the coding region of genes that encode a putative stress-induced antifungal kinase, an F-Box protein, and Xa21-binding RLK that were strongly associated with anthracnose resistance. We also identified highly significant associations between anthracnose resistance and three SNPs linked to genes (Sobic.002G058400, Sobic.008G156600, Sobic.005G033400) encoding an orthologue of the widely known NLR protein (RPM1), Leucine Rich Repeat family protein, and Heavy Metal Associated domain-containing protein, respectively. Other SNPs linked to predicted immune response genes were also significantly associated with anthracnose resistance. CONCLUSIONS The sorghum germplasm collections used in the present study are genetically diverse. They harbor potentially useful, yet undiscovered, alleles for anthracnose resistance. This is supported by the identification of novel loci that are enriched for disease resistance regulators such as NLRs, LRKs, Xa21-binding LRK, and antifungal proteins. The genotypic data available for these accessions offer a valuable resource for sorghum breeders to effectively improve the crop. The genomic regions and candidate genes identified can be used to design markers for molecular breeding of sorghum diseases resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chemeda Birhanu
- Oromia Agricultural Research Institute, P.O. Box 81265, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Gezahegn Girma
- Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
| | - Firew Mekbib
- Haramaya University, P.O. Box 138, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia
| | - Habte Nida
- Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
| | - Alemu Tirfessa
- Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, P.O. Box 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Dagnachew Lule
- Agricultural Transformation Institute, P.O. Box 708, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | | | - Getachew Ayana
- Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, P.O. Box 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Tamirat Bejiga
- Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, P.O. Box 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Gudeta Bedada
- Oromia Agricultural Research Institute, P.O. Box 81265, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Meseret Tola
- Oromia Agricultural Research Institute, P.O. Box 81265, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Tokuma Legesse
- Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, P.O. Box 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Habtamu Alemu
- Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, P.O. Box 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Solomon Admasu
- Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, P.O. Box 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | | | - Tesfaye Mengiste
- Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
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Habte N, Girma G, Xu X, Liao CJ, Adeyanju A, Hailemariam S, Lee S, Okoye P, Ejeta G, Mengiste T. Haplotypes at the sorghum ARG4 and ARG5 NLR loci confer resistance to anthracnose. THE PLANT JOURNAL : FOR CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2024; 118:106-123. [PMID: 38111157 DOI: 10.1111/tpj.16594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2023] [Revised: 12/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/20/2023]
Abstract
Sorghum anthracnose caused by the fungus Colletotrichum sublineola (Cs) is a damaging disease of the crop. Here, we describe the identification of ANTHRACNOSE RESISTANCE GENES (ARG4 and ARG5) encoding canonical nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) receptors. ARG4 and ARG5 are dominant resistance genes identified in the sorghum lines SAP135 and P9830, respectively, that show broad-spectrum resistance to Cs. Independent genetic studies using populations generated by crossing SAP135 and P9830 with TAM428, fine mapping using molecular markers, comparative genomics and gene expression studies determined that ARG4 and ARG5 are resistance genes against Cs strains. Interestingly, ARG4 and ARG5 are both located within clusters of duplicate NLR genes at linked loci separated by ~1 Mb genomic region. SAP135 and P9830 each carry only one of the ARG genes while having the recessive allele at the second locus. Only two copies of the ARG5 candidate genes were present in the resistant P9830 line while five non-functional copies were identified in the susceptible line. The resistant parents and their recombinant inbred lines carrying either ARG4 or ARG5 are resistant to strains Csgl1 and Csgrg suggesting that these genes have overlapping specificities. The role of ARG4 and ARG5 in resistance was validated through sorghum lines carrying independent recessive alleles that show increased susceptibility. ARG4 and ARG5 are located within complex loci displaying interesting haplotype structures and copy number variation that may have resulted from duplication. Overall, the identification of anthracnose resistance genes with unique haplotype stucture provides a foundation for genetic studies and resistance breeding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nida Habte
- Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, USA
| | - Gezahegn Girma
- Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, USA
| | - Xiaochen Xu
- Department of Agronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, USA
| | - Chao-Jan Liao
- Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, USA
| | - Adedayo Adeyanju
- Department of Agronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, USA
| | - Sara Hailemariam
- Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, USA
| | - Sanghun Lee
- Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, USA
| | - Pascal Okoye
- Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, USA
| | - Gebisa Ejeta
- Department of Agronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, USA
| | - Tesfaye Mengiste
- Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, USA
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Huang CC, Lin CH, Lin YC, Chang HX. Application of bulk segregant RNA-Seq (BSR-Seq) and allele-specific primers to study soybean powdery mildew resistance. BMC PLANT BIOLOGY 2024; 24:155. [PMID: 38424508 PMCID: PMC10905810 DOI: 10.1186/s12870-024-04822-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Powdery mildew (PM) is one of the important soybean diseases, and host resistance could practically contribute to soybean PM management. To date, only the Rmd locus on chromosome (Chr) 16 was identified through traditional QTL mapping and GWAS, and it remains unclear if the bulk segregant RNA-Seq (BSR-Seq) methodology is feasible to explore additional PM resistance that might exist in other varieties. RESULTS BSR-Seq was applied to contrast genotypes and gene expressions between the resistant bulk (R bulk) and the susceptible bulk (S bulk), as well as the parents. The ∆(SNP-index) and G' value identified several QTL and significant SNPs/Indels on Chr06, Chr15, and Chr16. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) located within these QTL were identified using HISAT2 and Kallisto, and allele-specific primers (AS-primers) were designed to validate the accuracy of phenotypic prediction. While the AS-primers on Chr06 or Chr15 cannot distinguish the resistant and susceptible phenotypes, AS-primers on Chr16 exhibited 82% accuracy prediction with an additive effect, similar to the SSR marker Satt431. CONCLUSIONS Evaluation of additional AS-primers in the linkage disequilibrium (LD) block on Chr16 further confirmed the resistant locus, derived from the resistant parental variety 'Kaohsiung 11' ('KS11'), not only overlaps with the Rmd locus with unique up-regulated LRR genes (Glyma.16G213700 and Glyma.16G215100), but also harbors a down-regulated MLO gene (Glyma.16G145600). Accordingly, this study exemplified the feasibility of BSR-Seq in studying biotrophic disease resistance in soybean, and showed the genetic makeup of soybean variety 'KS11' comprising the Rmd locus and one MLO gene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheng-Chun Huang
- Master Program for Plant Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 106319, Taiwan
| | - Chen-Hsiang Lin
- Taoyuan District Agricultural Research and Extension Station. Ministry of Agriculture, Taoyuan, 327005, Taiwan
| | - Yu-Cheng Lin
- Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 106319, Taiwan
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Hao-Xun Chang
- Master Program for Plant Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 106319, Taiwan.
- Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 106319, Taiwan.
- Center of Biotechnology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 106319, Taiwan.
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Wolf ESA, Vela S, Cuevas HE, Vermerris W. A Sorghum F-Box Protein Induces an Oxidative Burst in the Defense Against Colletotrichum sublineola. PHYTOPATHOLOGY 2024; 114:405-417. [PMID: 37717251 DOI: 10.1094/phyto-06-23-0184-r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/19/2023]
Abstract
The hemibiotrophic fungal pathogen Colletotrichum sublineola is the causal agent of anthracnose in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), resulting in leaf blight, stalk rot, and head blight in susceptible genotypes, with yield losses of up to 50%. The development of anthracnose-resistant cultivars can reduce reliance on fungicides and provide a more sustainable and economical means for disease management. A previous genome-wide association study of the sorghum association panel identified the candidate resistance gene Sobic.005G172300 encoding an F-box protein. To better understand the role of this gene in the defense against C. sublineola, gene expression following infection with C. sublineola was monitored by RNA sequencing in seedlings of sorghum accession SC110, which harbored the resistance allele, and three accessions that harbored a susceptible allele. Only in SC110 did the expression of Sobic.005G172300 increase during the biotrophic phase of infection. Subsequent transcriptome analysis, gene co-expression networks, and gene regulatory networks of inoculated and mock-inoculated seedlings of resistant and susceptible accessions suggest that the increase in expression of Sobic.005G172300 induces an oxidative burst by lowering the concentration of ascorbic acid during the biotrophic phase of infection. Based on gene regulatory network analysis, the protein encoded by Sobic.005G172300 is proposed to target proteins involved in the biosynthesis of ascorbic acid for polyubiquitination through the SCF E3 ubiquitin ligase, causing their degradation via the proteasome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily S A Wolf
- Plant Molecular & Cellular Biology graduate program, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611
| | - Saddie Vela
- Plant Molecular & Cellular Biology graduate program, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611
| | - Hugo E Cuevas
- U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Tropical Agriculture Research Station, Mayagüez, PR 00680
| | - Wilfred Vermerris
- Department of Microbiology & Cell Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611
- University of Florida Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611
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