Integrative analysis of the multi-omics reveals the stripe rust fungus resistance mechanism of the TaPAL in wheat

Abstract

Wheat is one of the major food crops in the world. However, stripe rust fungus significantly decreases wheat yield and quality. In the present study, transcriptomic and metabolite analyses were conducted in R88 (resistant line) and CY12 (susceptible cultivar) during Pst-CYR34 infection due to the limited availability of information regarding the underlying mechanisms governing wheat–pathogen interactions. The results revealed that Pst infection promoted the genes and metabolites involved in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis. The key enzyme gene TaPAL to regulate lignin and phenolic synthesis has a positive resistance contribution to Pst in wheat, which was verified by the virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) technique. The distinctive resistance of R88 is regulated by the selective expression of genes involved in the fine-tuning of wheat–Pst interactions. Furthermore, metabolome analysis suggested that lignin biosynthesis-related metabolite accumulation was significantly affected by Pst. These results help to elucidate the regulatory networks of wheat–Pst interactions and pave the way for durable resistance breeding in wheat, which may ease environmental and food crises around the world.

Transcriptomic insights into the molecular mechanism for response of wild emmer wheat to stripe rust fungus

“…(2013) , which showed the involvement of PAL in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis in both the Yr39 -mediated high-temperature adult-plant (HTAP) and Yr5 -mediated all-stage resistances of wheat. Recent report showed that TaPAL contributes to wheat resistance to Pst by regulating lignin and phenol synthesis, which was verified by the virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) technique ( Liu et al., 2023b ).…”

“…Previous studies have demonstrated that phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) functions as the gateway enzyme in phenylpropanoid metabolism and plays a key role in the response to various environmental stimuli, including pathogen infection ( Yuan et al., 2019 ; Pant et al., 2021 ; Liu et al., 2023b ). Here we show that the expression of the majority of PAL genes in wild emmer wheat is significantly increased in response to Pst infection in the two accessions.…”

“…PAL catalyzes the polymerization of lignin, flavonoids, hydroxycinnamic acid, phenolics, and anthocyanin, among other secondary metabolites ( Figure 5A ). These metabolites play crucial roles in plant defense mechanisms ( Dong and Lin, 2021 ; Pant et al., 2021 ; Liu et al., 2023b ). Of particular importance is lignin, which serves as a component of secondary cell walls and contributes to defense against various pathogens ( Xu et al., 2011 ; Yuan et al., 2019 ).…”

Identification of quantitative trait loci associated with leaf rust resistance in rye by precision mapping

“…Many of these 21 genes, such as those coding for a NBS-LRR disease resistance protein-like protein, leucine-rich repeat receptor-like protein kinase family protein, pathogenesis-related thaumatin family protein, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, endoglucanase, MYB-related transcription factor, kinase (serine/threonine) family protein, and GDSL esterase/lipase ( [34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41], respectively), have been proven to play a role in the immune response to rust fungi. One such gene, SECCE1Rv1G0013110.1, encoding an endoglucanase (to which marker 3596652|F|0-30:A>G-30:A>G has been mapped), has previously been observed to be differentially expressed (highly up-regulated; log2 estimated fold change = 4.7) in the rye inbred line L318 infected with compatible Prs strains [41].…”