Genome-wide mapping of NBS-LRR genes and their association with disease resistance in soybean.

BACKGROUND: R genes are a key component of genetic interactions between plants and biotrophic bacteria and are known to regulate resistance against bacterial invasion. The most common R proteins contain a nucleotide-binding site and a leucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR) domain. Some NBS-LRR genes in the soybean genome have also been reported to function in disease resistance. In this study, the number of NBS-LRR genes was found to correlate with the number of disease resistance quantitative trait loci (QTL) that flank these genes in each chromosome. NBS-LRR genes co-localized with disease resistance QTL. The study also addressed the functional redundancy of disease resistance on recently duplicated regions that harbor NBS-LRR genes and NBS-LRR gene expression in the bacterial leaf pustule (BLP)-induced soybean transcriptome. RESULTS: A total of 319 genes were determined to be putative NBS-LRR genes in the soybean genome. The number of NBS-LRR genes on each chromosome was highly correlated with the number of disease resistance QTL in the 2-Mb flanking regions of NBS-LRR genes. In addition, the recently duplicated regions contained duplicated NBS-LRR genes and duplicated disease resistance QTL, and possessed either an uneven or even number of NBS-LRR genes on each side. The significant difference in NBS-LRR gene expression between a resistant near-isogenic line (NIL) and a susceptible NIL after inoculation of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. glycines supports the conjecture that NBS-LRR genes have disease resistance functions in the soybean genome. CONCLUSIONS: The number of NBS-LRR genes and disease resistance QTL in the 2-Mb flanking regions of each chromosome was significantly correlated, and several recently duplicated regions that contain NBS-LRR genes harbored disease resistance QTL for both sides. In addition, NBS-LRR gene expression was significantly different between the BLP-resistant NIL and the BLP-susceptible NIL in response to bacterial infection. From these observations, NBS-LRR genes are suggested to contribute to disease resistance in soybean. Moreover, we propose models for how NBS-LRR genes were duplicated, and apply Ks values for each NBS-LRR gene cluster.

Transcriptome analysis reveals novel genes involved in nonhost response to bacterial infection in tobacco.

Plants are continuously exposed to pathogen challenge. The most common defense response to pathogenic microorganisms is the nonhost response, which is usually accompanied by transcriptional changes. In order to identify genes involved in nonhost resistance, we evaluated the tobacco transcriptome profile after infection with Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri (Xac), a nonhost phytopathogenic bacterium. cDNA-amplified fragment length polymorphism was used to identify differentially expressed transcripts in tobacco leaves infected with Xac at 2, 8 and 24h post-inoculation. From a total of 2087 transcript-derived fragments (TDFs) screened (approximately 20% of the tobacco transcriptome), 316 TDFs showed differential expression. Based on sequence similarities, 82 differential TDFs were identified and assigned to different functional categories: 56 displayed homology to genes with known functions, 12 to proteins with unknown functions and 14 did not have a match. Real-time PCR was carried out with selected transcripts to confirm the expression pattern obtained. The results reveal novel genes associated with nonhost resistance in plant-pathogen interaction in tobacco. These novel genes could be included in future strategies of molecular breeding for nonhost disease resistance.

[High efficient expression and bio-activity assay of recombinant antibody for citrus bacterial canker disease].

Citrus bacterial canker disease caused by the gram negative bacterium Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri (XAC) is a severe bacterial disease of most commercial citrus species and cultivars around the world. Single chain variable fragment (ScFv) is artificial construction small molecular antibody produced by genetic engineering which may be used to identify target pathogens and prevent plant diseases including XAC. To express ScFv against XAC and obtain functional ScFv, single-chain antibody fragments (ScFv 95) selected by ribosome display was amplified using an assembly of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and a recombined plasmid pET30a( + )-XAC-ScFv was constructed by inserting the single chain Fv gene into bacterial expression vector pET30a( + ). PET30a( + )-XAC-ScFv was transformed into Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) and expressed which was induced by IPTG. Products were purified though Ni-NTA His Bind resin. The collected antibodies were refolded by gel filtration chromatography, and activity assaying process was done. The results showed that ScFv recombined antibody of XAC with a molecular of 32kDa was expressed successfully as inclusion bodies and the functional ScFv was obtained through purification and renaturation. Meanwhile, the Biacore analysis indicates that XAC-ScFv-95 showed significant affinity to LPS of Xac, which paves a new way for immunization diagnosis and exploration of integrated control of citrus bacterial canker disease.