A membrane associated tandem kinase from wild emmer wheat confers broad-spectrum resistance to powdery mildew

Miaomiao Li; Huaizhi Zhang; Huixin Xiao; Keyu Zhu; Wenqi Shi; Dong Zhang; Yong Wang; Lijun Yang; Qiuhong Wu; Jingzhong Xie; Yongxing Chen; Dan Qiu; Guanghao Guo; Ping Lu; Beibei Li; Lei Dong; Wenling Li; Xuejia Cui; Lingchuan Li; Xiubin Tian; Chengguo Yuan; Yiwen Li; Dazhao Yu; Eviatar Nevo; Tzion Fahima; Hongjie Li; Lingli Dong; Yusheng Zhao; Zhiyong Liu

doi:10.1038/s41467-024-47497-w

A membrane associated tandem kinase from wild emmer wheat confers broad-spectrum resistance to powdery mildew

Nat Commun. 2024 Apr 10;15(1):3124. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-47497-w.

Authors

Miaomiao Li^#¹, Huaizhi Zhang^#², Huixin Xiao^#², Keyu Zhu^#^{2

3}, Wenqi Shi^#⁴, Dong Zhang⁵, Yong Wang⁶, Lijun Yang⁴, Qiuhong Wu², Jingzhong Xie², Yongxing Chen^{2

3}, Dan Qiu², Guanghao Guo², Ping Lu², Beibei Li^{2

3}, Lei Dong^{2

3}, Wenling Li^{2

3}, Xuejia Cui^{2

3}, Lingchuan Li^{2

3}, Xiubin Tian², Chengguo Yuan⁷, Yiwen Li², Dazhao Yu⁴, Eviatar Nevo⁸, Tzion Fahima⁸, Hongjie Li⁹, Lingli Dong¹⁰, Yusheng Zhao^{11

12}, Zhiyong Liu^{13

14

15}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Plant Cell and Chromosome Engineering, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, The Innovative Academy of Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. mmli@genetics.ac.cn.
² State Key Laboratory of Plant Cell and Chromosome Engineering, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, The Innovative Academy of Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
³ College of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁴ Institute of Plant Protection and Soil Science, Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wuhan, China.
⁵ Beijing PlantTech Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Beijing, China.
⁶ Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁷ Hebei Gaoyi Seeds Farm, Gaoyi, Hebei, China.
⁸ Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Mt. Carmel, Haifa, Israel.
⁹ National Engineering Laboratory for Crop Molecular Breeding, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
¹⁰ State Key Laboratory of Plant Cell and Chromosome Engineering, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, The Innovative Academy of Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. lldong@genetics.ac.cn.
¹¹ State Key Laboratory of Plant Cell and Chromosome Engineering, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, The Innovative Academy of Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. yusheng.zhao@genetics.ac.cn.
¹² College of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. yusheng.zhao@genetics.ac.cn.
¹³ State Key Laboratory of Plant Cell and Chromosome Engineering, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, The Innovative Academy of Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. zyliu@genetics.ac.cn.
¹⁴ College of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. zyliu@genetics.ac.cn.
¹⁵ Hainan Seed Industry Laboratory, Sanya City, Hainan Province, China. zyliu@genetics.ac.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Crop wild relatives offer natural variations of disease resistance for crop improvement. Here, we report the isolation of broad-spectrum powdery mildew resistance gene Pm36, originated from wild emmer wheat, that encodes a tandem kinase with a transmembrane domain (WTK7-TM) through the combination of map-based cloning, PacBio SMRT long-read genome sequencing, mutagenesis, and transformation. Mutagenesis assay reveals that the two kinase domains and the transmembrane domain of WTK7-TM are critical for the powdery mildew resistance function. Consistently, in vitro phosphorylation assay shows that two kinase domains are indispensable for the kinase activity of WTK7-TM. Haplotype analysis uncovers that Pm36 is an orphan gene only present in a few wild emmer wheat, indicating its single ancient origin and potential contribution to the current wheat gene pool. Overall, our findings not only provide a powdery mildew resistance gene with great potential in wheat breeding but also sheds light into the mechanism underlying broad-spectrum resistance.

MeSH terms

Ascomycota* / genetics
Chromosome Mapping
Disease Resistance / genetics
Genes, Plant
Plant Breeding
Plant Diseases / genetics
Triticum* / genetics