The Coiled-Coil NLR Rph1, Confers Leaf Rust Resistance in Barley Cultivar Sudan.

Unraveling and exploiting mechanisms of disease resistance in cereal crops is currently limited by their large repeat-rich genomes and the lack of genetic recombination or cultivar (cv)-specific sequence information. We cloned the first leaf rust resistance gene Rph1 (Rph1 a) from cultivated barley (Hordeum vulgare) using "MutChromSeq," a recently developed molecular genomics tool for the rapid cloning of genes in plants. Marker-trait association in the CI 9214/Stirling doubled haploid population mapped Rph1 to the short arm of chromosome 2H in a physical region of 1.3 megabases relative to the barley cv Morex reference assembly. A sodium azide mutant population in cv Sudan was generated and 10 mutants were confirmed by progeny-testing. Flow-sorted 2H chromosomes from Sudan (wild type) and six of the mutants were sequenced and compared to identify candidate genes for the Rph1 locus. MutChromSeq identified a single gene candidate encoding a coiled-coil nucleotide binding site Leucine-rich repeat (NLR) receptor protein that was altered in three different mutants. Further Sanger sequencing confirmed all three mutations and identified an additional two independent mutations within the same candidate gene. Phylogenetic analysis determined that Rph1 clustered separately from all previously cloned NLRs from the Triticeae and displayed highest sequence similarity (89%) with a homolog of the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) disease resistance protein 1 protein in Triticum urartu In this study we determined the molecular basis for Rph1-mediated resistance in cultivated barley enabling varietal improvement through diagnostic marker design, gene editing, and gene stacking technologies.

Leaf rust of cultivated barley: pathology and control.

Leaf rust of barley is caused by the macrocyclic, heteroecious rust pathogen Puccinia hordei, with aecia reported from selected species of the genera Ornithogalum, Leopoldia, and Dipcadi, and uredinia and telia occurring on Hordeum vulgare, H. vulgare ssp. spontaneum, Hordeum bulbosum, and Hordeum murinum, on which distinct parasitic specialization occurs. Although Puccinia hordei is sporadic in its occurrence, it is probably the most common and widely distributed rust disease of barley. Leaf rust has increased in importance in recent decades in temperate barley-growing regions, presumably because of more intensive agricultural practices. Although total crop loss does not occur, under epidemic conditions yield reductions of up to 62% have been reported in susceptible varieties. Leaf rust is primarily controlled by the use of resistant cultivars, and, to date, 21 seedling resistance genes and two adult plant resistance (APR) genes have been identified. Virulence has been detected for most seedling resistance genes but is unknown for the APR genes Rph20 and Rph23. Other potentially new sources of APR have been reported, and additivity has been described for some of these resistances. Approaches to achieving durable resistance to leaf rust in barley are discussed.