scholarly journals Effect of Leptosphaeria maculans Infection on Promoter DNA Methylation of Defence Genes in Brassica napus

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1072 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soodeh Tirnaz ◽  
Clementine Merce ◽  
Philipp E. Bayer ◽  
Anita A. Severn-Ellis ◽  
David Edwards ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Brassica Napus ◽  
Leptosphaeria Maculans ◽  
Methylation Pattern ◽  
Epigenetic Mark ◽  
Gene Promoters ◽  
Blackleg Disease ◽  
Crop Species ◽  
Resistance Response ◽  
Defence Genes

Canola (Brassica napus) is an important crop species grown worldwide for its seeds, which are crushed for edible oil. Canola production is threatened by blackleg disease, caused by the fungal pathogen Leptosphaeria maculans, which can lead up to 100% yield loss. A plant’s disease resistance response depends highly on the regulation of the expression of defence genes. DNA methylation, an epigenetic mark, is one of the most important regulatory mechanisms in a plant’s defence system. Here, the DNA methylation pattern of promoters of defence genes has been investigated between leaves from control and infected plants with L. maculans of resistant and susceptible cultivars of B. napus. In total, over 12,000 promoters were found to be differentially methylated between leaves from control and infected plants in the two cultivars, of which 225 promoters were related to defence genes and differentially methylated between the resistant and susceptible cultivars. The majority of defence gene promoters were hypo- or hyper-methylated in the first and second true leaves, but not in the third and fourth leaves. The outcomes will assist in developing an insight into genome-wide DNA methylation patterns in canola cultivars, and ultimately help breeders to optimise the breeding programmes for enhancing resistance against blackleg disease.

scholarly journals Brassica napus genes Rlm4 and Rlm7, conferring resistance to Leptosphaeria maculans, are alleles of the Rlm9 wall-associated kinase-like resistance locus

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parham Haddadi ◽  
Nicholas J Larkan ◽  
Angela Van de Wouw ◽  
Yueqi Zhang ◽  
Ting Xiang Neik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brassica Napus ◽  
Genome Sequence ◽  
Leptosphaeria Maculans ◽  
Resistance Locus ◽  
R Genes ◽  
Blackleg Disease ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Resistance Response ◽  
Induce Resistance ◽  
Gene Structures

Brassica napus (canola/rapeseed) race specific resistance genes against blackleg disease, caused by the ascomycete fungus Leptosphaeria maculans, have been commonly used in canola breeding. To date, LepR3, Rlm2 and Rlm9 R genes against L. maculans have been cloned from B. napus. LepR3 and Rlm2 are Receptor Like Proteins (RLP) and the recently reported Rlm9 is a Wall Associated Kinase-Like (WAKL) protein. Rlm9 located on chromosome A07 is closely linked with Rlm3, Rlm4, RLm7 genes. Recognition of AvrLm5-9 and AvrLm3 by their corresponding Rlm9 and Rlm3 proteins is masked in the presence of AvrLm4-7. Here we report cloning of Rlm4 and Rlm7 by generating genome sequence of the doubled haploid (DH) B. napus cv Topas DH16516 introgression lines Topas-Rlm4 and Topas-Rlm7. Candidate Rlm4 and Rlm7 genes were identified form the genome sequence and gene structures were determined by mapping RNA-sequence reads, generated from infected cotyledon tissues, to the genome of Topas-Rlm4 and Topas-Rlm7. Rlm4 and Rlm7 genomic constructs with their native promoters were transferred into the blackleg susceptible B. napus cv Westar. Complementation of resistance response in the transgenic Westar-Rlm4 and Westar-Rlm7 that were inoculated with L. maculans transgenic isolates 2367-AvrRlm4-7 or 2367-AvrLm7 confirmed the function of Rlm4 and Rlm7 genes. Wild type L. maculans isolate 2367 that does not contain AvrLm4-7 or AvrLm7, and transgenic 2367-AvrLm3 and 2367-AvrLm5-9 did not induce resistance proving the specificity of Rlm4 and Rlm7 response. Rlm4 and Rlm7 alleles are also allelic to Rlm9. Rlm4 and Rlm7 genes encode WAKL proteins. Comparison of highly-homologous sequences of Rlm4 and Rlm7 with each other and with the sequence of additional alleles identified a limited number of point mutation located within the predicted extracellular receptor domains.

scholarly journals Limitations of transcriptome-based prediction of pathogenicity genes in the plant pathogen Leptosphaeria maculans

2019 ◽  
Vol 366 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew S Urquhart ◽  
Alexander Idnurm
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Brassica Napus ◽  
Leptosphaeria Maculans ◽  
Simple Expression ◽  
Gene Transcript ◽  
Blackleg Disease ◽  
Fungal Pathogenicity ◽  
Transcript Levels ◽  
Oilseed Crops ◽  
High Gene

ABSTRACT Identification of pathogenicity determinants in Leptosphaeria maculans, a major cause of disease of oilseed crops, has been a focus of research for many years. A wealth of gene expression information from RNA sequencing promises to illuminate the mechanisms by which the fungus is able to cause blackleg disease. However, to date, no studies have tested the hypothesis that high gene transcript levels during infection correlate with importance to disease progression. In this study, we use CRISPR-Cas9 to disrupt 11 genes that are highly expressed during the early stages of disease and show that none of these genes are crucial for fungal pathogenicity on Brassica napus. This finding suggests that in order to understand the pathogenicity of this fungus more sophisticated techniques than simple expression analysis will need to be employed.

scholarly journals Genome-Wide Identification and Analysis of VQ Motif-containing Gene Family in Brassica napus and Functional Characterization of BnMKS1 in Response to Leptosphaeria maculans

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongwei Zou ◽  
Fei Liu ◽  
Shuanglong Huang ◽  
DILANTHA GERARD FERNANDO
Keyword(s):  
Brassica Napus ◽  
Gene Family ◽  
Functional Characterization ◽  
Leptosphaeria Maculans ◽  
Defense Responses ◽  
Marker Genes ◽  
Blackleg Disease ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
A Genome

Proteins containing Valine-glutamine (VQ) motifs play important roles in plant growth and development, as well as in defense responses to both abiotic and biotic stresses. Blackleg disease, which is caused by Leptosphaeria maculans, is the most important disease in canola (Brassica napus L.) worldwide. H; however, the identification of B. napus VQs and their functions in response to blackleg disease have not yet been reported. In this study, we conducted a genome genome-wide identification and characterization of the VQ gene family in B. napus, including chromosome location, phylogenetic relations, gene structure, motif domain, synteny analysis, and cis-elements categorization of their promoter regions. To understand B. napus VQ gene function in response to blackleg disease, we overexpressed BnVQ7 (BnaA01g36880D, also known as the mitogen-activated protein kinase4 substrate1 (MKS1) gene) in a blackleg-susceptible canola variety Westar. Overexpression The overexpression of BnMKS1 in canola did not improve its resistance to blackleg disease at the seedling stage. H; however, transgenic canola plants overexpressing BnMKS1 displayed an enhanced resistance to L. maculans infection at the adult plant stage. Expression levels of downstream and defense marker genes in cotyledons increased significantly at the necrotrophic stage of L. maculans infection in the overexpression line of BnMKS1, suggesting that the SA salicylic acid (SA)- and jasmonic acid (JA )-mediated signaling pathways were both involved in the defense responses. Together, these results suggest that BnMKS1 might play an important role in the defense against L. maculans.

scholarly journals Breakdown of a Brassica rapa subsp. sylvestris Single Dominant Blackleg Resistance Gene in B. napus Rapeseed by Leptosphaeria maculans Field Isolates in Australia

Plant Disease ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 87 (6) ◽  
pp. 752-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Li ◽  
K. Sivasithamparam ◽  
M. J. Barbetti
Keyword(s):  
Brassica Napus ◽  
Resistance Gene ◽  
Disease Severity ◽  
Brassica Rapa ◽  
Oilseed Rape ◽  
Leptosphaeria Maculans ◽  
Blackleg Disease ◽  
Field Isolates ◽  
Western Australian ◽  
Lower Stem

Blackleg, caused by Leptosphaeria maculans, is a major disease of oilseed rape (Brassica napus) grown in Canada, Europe, and Australia. Cv. Surpass 400 was released in Australia in 2000 as the most resistant cultivar to L. maculans. It carries a single dominant resistance gene from B. rapa subsp. sylvestris. This cultivar usually shows a hypersensitive response to L. maculans characterized by small, dark brown lesions that are necrotic, localized, and without pycnidia on cotyledons, leaves, and stems. However, in 2001 on a Western Australian experimental farm, a small proportion of the lesions on the lower stem and crown region of cv. Surpass 400 were typical of those observed in susceptible cultivars, which were brown, necrotic lesions with a darker margin, but they contained fewer pycnidia. Forty seedlings of cv. Surpass 400 and susceptible cv. Westar were inoculated with pycnidiospore suspensions (106/ml) of each of 18 isolates taken from lesions on cv. Surpass 400. All 18 isolates caused collapse of cotyledons of susceptible cv. Westar. Four of these isolates caused large cotyledon lesions with some pycnidia on cv. Surpass 400. Three of these four isolates were subsequently inoculated onto 60 seedlings per isolate, at each of the four cotyledon lobes of each seedling of the two cultivars. Inoculated plants were assessed for disease severity on cotyledons and transplanted to the field 14 days after inoculation. The cotyledons of inoculated cv. Surpass 400 showed characteristic large, necrotic lesions with pycnidia, while the cotyledons of cv. Westar had collapsed and contained a mass of pycnidia. Blackleg disease severity in the crown region of the stem was assessed at 2 weeks before harvest. Fifty-four percent of the cv. Surpass 400 transplanted inoculated plants subsequently developed susceptible symptoms of crown cankers on stems. These symptoms were deep, girdling, brown lesions on the plant crowns with some pycnidia. One hundred percent of cv. Westar plants were infected and dead at this stage. This confirmed the ability of these field isolates to overcome the single dominant resistance gene present in cv. Surpass 400. To our knowledge, this is the first report of breakdown of a single dominant B. rapa subsp. sylvestris gene based resistance to blackleg in oilseed rape in the field.

Non-canonical functions of the DNA methylome in gene regulation

2013 ◽  
Vol 451 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
James P. Reddington ◽  
Sari Pennings ◽  
Richard R. Meehan
Keyword(s):  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Gene Regulation ◽  
Transcriptional Regulation ◽  
Polycomb Group ◽  
Epigenetic Mark ◽  
Regulation Of Transcription ◽  
Gene Promoters ◽  
Dna Modification ◽  
Dna Methylome ◽  
Genomic Regions

Methylation of the cytosine base in DNA, DNA methylation, is an essential epigenetic mark in mammals that contributes to the regulation of transcription. Several advances have been made in this area in recent years, leading to a leap forward in our understanding of how this pathway contributes to gene regulation during embryonic development, and the functional consequences of its perturbation in human disease. Critical to these advances is a comprehension of the genomic distribution of modified cytosine bases in unprecedented detail, drawing attention to genomic regions beyond gene promoters. In addition, we have a more complete understanding of the multifactorial manner by which DNA methylation influences gene regulation at the molecular level, and which genes rely directly on the DNA methylome for their normal transcriptional regulation. It is becoming apparent that a major role of DNA modification is to act as a relatively stable, and mitotically heritable, template that contributes to the establishment and maintenance of chromatin states. In this regard, interplay is emerging between DNA methylation and the PcG (Polycomb group) proteins, which act as evolutionarily conserved mediators of cell identity. In the present paper we review these aspects of DNA methylation, and discuss how a multifunctional view of DNA modification as an integral part of chromatin organization is influencing our understanding of this epigenetic mark's contribution to transcriptional regulation.

scholarly journals Loss of SETD1B results in the redistribution of genomic H3K4me3 in the oocyte

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney W. Hanna ◽  
Jiahao Huang ◽  
Christian Belton ◽  
Susanne Reinhardt ◽  
Andreas Dahl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Gene Expression Analysis ◽  
Cpg Islands ◽  
Conditional Knockout ◽  
Epigenetic Mark ◽  
Gene Promoters ◽  
Downregulated Gene ◽  
Mammalian Development ◽  
Histone 3

SummaryHistone 3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) is an epigenetic mark found at gene promoters and CpG islands. H3K4me3 is essential for mammalian development, yet mechanisms underlying its genomic targeting are poorly understood. H3K4me3 methyltransferases SETD1B and MLL2 are essential for oogenesis. We investigated changes in H3K4me3 in Setd1b conditional knockout (cKO) GV oocytes using ultra-low input ChIP-seq, in conjunction with DNA methylation and gene expression analysis. Setd1b cKO oocytes showed a redistribution of H3K4me3, with a marked loss at active gene promoters associated with downregulated gene expression. Remarkably, many regions gained H3K4me3 in Setd1b cKOs, in particular those that were DNA hypomethylated, transcriptionally inactive and CpG-rich - hallmarks of MLL2 targets. Thus, loss of SETD1B appears to enable enhanced MLL2 activity. Our work reveals two distinct, complementary mechanisms of genomic targeting of H3K4me3 in oogenesis, with SETD1B linked to gene expression in the oogenic program and MLL2 to CpG content.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document