Abstract

ZARATE-CASTREJON, José L. et al. CANDIDATE GENES FOR RESPONSE TO WHEAT LEAF RUST IDENTIFIED BY EXPRESSION PROFILES. Rev. fitotec. mex [online]. 2018, vol.41, n.4a, pp.527-535.  Epub Nov 15, 2019. ISSN 0187-7380.

Leaf rust, caused by the fungus Puccinia triticina, is a common disease in the wheat (Triticum aestivum) crop that generate significant economic losses. Currently, there are cultivars that show resistance to specific races of the fungus; however, the pathogen often breaks the resistance in a short time. An alternative strategy is the accumulation of resistance genes with additive effect. To achieve this it is necessary to find molecular markers that facilitate the selection of new genotypes with genetic resistance. Therefore, the objective of this research was to isolate and identify new genes for resistance to P. triticina through the generation of a subtractive suppressive ADNc library of the resistant cultivar Monarca F2007. The general response of Monarca to the presence of the fungus was mainly the activation of genes that encode proteins related to pathogenesis and to mild drought. The induction of these genes is crucial in order to keep the leaf tissue in healthy conditions upon infection by P. triticina. On the other hand, it was shown that wheat resistant lines to rust induce the expression of a greater number of genes than susceptible lines, indicating that they can have additive effects. The expression of differential transcripts is an indicator of wheat response against infection of leaf rust and the expression profiles of these genes can be used as molecular markers for selecting genotypes with greater resistance.

Keywords : Triticum aestivum; Puccinia triticina; genes for resistance; leaf rust; differential transcription.