AOBPreview originally published online on October 5, 2004
Annals of Botany 2004 94(6):765-773; doi:10.1093/aob/mch207
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Annals of Botany 94/6, © Annals of Botany Company 2004; all rights reserved
BOTANICAL BRIEFING |
Molecular Genetics of Disease Resistance in Cereals
CSIRO Plant Industry, GPO Box 1600, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
* For correspondence. E-mail evans.lagudah{at}csiro.au
Received: 12 May 2004 Returned for revision: 22 June 2004 Accepted: 16 August 2004 Published electronically: 5 October 2004
ABSTRACT
• Aims This Botanical Briefing attempts to summarize what is currently known about the molecular bases of disease resistance in cereal species and suggests future research directions.
• Scope An increasing number of resistance (R) genes have been isolated from rice, maize, wheat and barley that encode both structurally related and unique proteins. This R protein diversity may be attributable to the different modus operandi employed by pathogen species in some cases, but it is also a consequence of multiple defence strategies being employed against phytopathogens. Mutational analysis of barley has identified additional genes required for activation of an R gene-mediated defence response upon pathogen infection. In some instances very closely related barley R proteins require different proteins for defence activation, demonstrating that, within a single plant species, multiple resistance signalling pathways and different resistance strategies have evolved to confer protection against a single pathogen species. Despite the apparent diversity of cereal resistance mechanisms, some of the additional molecules required for R protein function are conserved amongst cereal and dicotyledonous species and even other eukaryotic species. Thus the derivation of functional homologues and interacting partner proteins from other species is contributing to the understanding of resistance signalling in cereals. The potential and limit of utilizing the rice genome sequence for further R gene isolation from cereal species is also considered, as are the new biotechnological possibilities for disease control arising from R gene isolation.
• Conclusions Molecular analyses in cereals have further highlighted the complexity of plant–pathogen co-evolution and have shown that numerous active and passive defence strategies are employed by plants against phytopathogens. Many advances in understanding the molecular basis of disease resistance in cereals have focused on monogenic resistance traits. Future research targets are likely to include less experimentally tractable, durable polygenic resistances and nonhost resistance mechanisms.
Key words: Disease, resistance genes, defence signalling, cereal, Hordeum vulgare, Oryza sativa, Triticum aestivum, Zea mays
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