Southern leaf blight disease severity is correlated with decreased maize leaf epiphytic bacterial species richness and the phyllosphere bacterial diversity decline is enhanced by nitrogen fertilization

Plant leaves are inhabited by a diverse group of microorganisms that are important contributors to optimal growth. Biotic and abiotic effects on plant growth are usually studied in controlled settings examining response to variation in single factors and in field settings with large numbers of variables. Multi-factor experiments with combinations of stresses bridge this gap, increasing our understanding of the genotype-environment-phenotype functional map for the host plant and the affiliated epiphytic community. The maize inbred B73 was exposed to single and combination abiotic and the biotic stress treatments: low nitrogen fertilizer and high levels of infection with southern leaf blight (causal agent Cochliobolus heterostrophus). Microbial epiphyte samples were collected at the vegetative early-season phase and species composition was determined using 16S ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis. Plant traits and level of southern leaf blight disease were measured late-season. Bacterial diversity was different among stress treatment groups (P < 0.001). Lower species richness—alpha diversity—was correlated with increased severity of southern leaf blight disease when disease pressure was high. Nitrogen fertilization intensified the decline in bacterial alpha diversity. While no single bacterial ribotype was consistently associated with disease severity, small sets of ribotypes were good predictors of disease levels. Difference in leaf bacterial-epiphyte diversity early in the season were correlated with plant disease severity, supporting further tests of microbial epiphyte-disease correlations for use in predicting disease progression

Resistance loci affecting distinct stages of fungal pathogenesis: use of introgression lines for QTL mapping and characterization in the maize - Setosphaeria turcica pathosystem

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Studies on host-pathogen interactions in a range of pathosystems have revealed an array of mechanisms by which plants reduce the efficiency of pathogenesis. While R-gene mediated resistance confers highly effective defense responses against pathogen invasion, quantitative resistance is associated with intermediate levels of resistance that reduces disease progress. To test the hypothesis that specific loci affect distinct stages of fungal pathogenesis, a set of maize introgression lines was used for mapping and characterization of quantitative trait loci (QTL) conditioning resistance to <it>Setosphaeria turcica</it>, the causal agent of northern leaf blight (NLB). To better understand the nature of quantitative resistance, the identified QTL were further tested for three secondary hypotheses: (1) that disease QTL differ by host developmental stage; (2) that their performance changes across environments; and (3) that they condition broad-spectrum resistance.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among a set of 82 introgression lines, seven lines were confirmed as more resistant or susceptible than B73. Two NLB QTL were validated in BC₄F₂segregating populations and advanced introgression lines. These loci, designated <it>qNLB1.02 </it>and <it>qNLB1.06</it>, were investigated in detail by comparing the introgression lines with B73 for a series of macroscopic and microscopic disease components targeting different stages of NLB development. Repeated greenhouse and field trials revealed that <it>qNLB1.06_Tx303</it>(the Tx303 allele at bin 1.06) reduces the efficiency of fungal penetration, while <it>qNLB1.02_B73</it>(the B73 allele at bin 1.02) enhances the accumulation of callose and phenolics surrounding infection sites, reduces hyphal growth into the vascular bundle and impairs the subsequent necrotrophic colonization in the leaves. The QTL were equally effective in both juvenile and adult plants; <it>qNLB1.06_Tx303</it>showed greater effectiveness in the field than in the greenhouse. In addition to NLB resistance, <it>qNLB1.02_B73</it>was associated with resistance to Stewart's wilt and common rust, while <it>qNLB1.06_Tx303</it>conferred resistance to Stewart's wilt. The non-specific resistance may be attributed to pleiotropy or linkage.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our research has led to successful identification of two reliably-expressed QTL that can potentially be utilized to protect maize from <it>S. turcica </it>in different environments. This approach to identifying and dissecting quantitative resistance in plants will facilitate the application of quantitative resistance in crop protection.</p

Virus-Induced Gene Silencing in Diverse Maize Lines Using the Brome Mosaic Virus-based silencing vector

Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is a widely used tool for gene function studies in many plant species, though its use in cereals has been limited. In addition, within cereal species the varieties that best respond during VIGS screens are often not known. Using a Brome mosaic virus (BMV) vector designed to silence the maize phytoene desaturase (PDS) gene, a genetically diverse set of maize inbred lines was screened for development of gene silencing after inoculation of seeds through the novel use of a vascular puncture inoculation technique. In addition to Va35, which previously was shown to support silencing, maize lines NC300, Ki11, Oh7b, M162W and CML52 displayed significant visible photobleaching when challenged with the BMV-PDS. In these plants, targeted PDS mRNA expression was decreased 50-80% relative to levels in plants that were inoculated with BMV containing a fragment of the GUS gene or were mock-inoculated

Memorial Viewpoint for Joop van Lenthe

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Southern leaf blight disease severity is correlated with decreased maize leaf epiphytic bacterial species richness and the phyllosphere bacterial diversity decline is enhanced by nitrogen fertilization

Plant leaves are inhabited by a diverse group of microorganisms that are important contributors to optimal growth. Biotic and abiotic effects on plant growth are usually studied in controlled settings examining response to variation in single factors and in field settings with large numbers of variables. Multi-factor experiments with combinations of stresses bridge this gap, increasing our understanding of the genotype-environment-phenotype functional map for the host plant and the affiliated epiphytic community. The maize inbred B73 was exposed to single and combination abiotic and the biotic stress treatments: low nitrogen fertilizer and high levels of infection with southern leaf blight (causal agent Cochliobolus heterostrophus). Microbial epiphyte samples were collected at the vegetative early-season phase and species composition was determined using 16S ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis. Plant traits and level of southern leaf blight disease were measured late-season. Bacterial diversity was different among stress treatment groups (P< 0.001). Lower species richness—alpha diversity--was correlated with increased severity of southern leaf blight disease when disease pressure was high. Nitrogen fertilization intensified the decline in bacterial alpha diversity. While no single bacterial ribotype was consistently associated with disease severity, small sets of ribotypes were good predictors of disease levels. Difference in leaf bacterial-epiphyte diversity early in the season were correlated with plant disease severity, supporting further tests of microbial epiphyte-disease correlations for use in predicting disease progression

Gene Helps with Multiple Leaf Diseases in Corn

Corn is one of the most widely grown crops in the United States, which produces 40 percent of the world crop. But as with all crops, diseases threaten corn production. Three diseases, southern corn leaf blight, northern leaf blight, and gray leaf spot, all cause lesions on corn leaves. In the U.S. Midwest Corn Belt, northern leaf blight and gray leaf spot are significant problems. Agricultural Research Service scientists and university colleagues found a specific gene in corn that seems to confer resistance to all three of these leaf diseases. This discovery, published in 2011 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could potentially help plant breeders build disease-resistance traits into future corn plants. The researchers examined 300 corn varieties from around the world, making sure to have a genetically diverse representation. No corn variety has complete resistance to any of these diseases, but varieties differ in the severity of symptoms they exhibit

Development and Use of a Seedling Growth Retardation Assay to Quantify and Map Loci Underlying Variation in the Maize Basal Defense Response

The pattern-triggered immune (PTI) response in plants is caused by the recognition of conserved microbe‐ or pathogen‐associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) by plant pattern recognition receptors at the cell surface. The goal of this study was to develop a simple, robust assay to quantify the PTI response in maize and to determine whether it could be used to predict levels of disease resistance. Flg22, an epitope derived from bacterial flagellin, is a commonly studied MAMP. We developed a seedling growth retardation (SGR) assay by which we could measure growth retardation in maize seedlings exposed to the bacterial MAMP flg22. We observed variation across 21 maize inbred lines. We used 161 lines from a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from a cross between the lines CML228 (a high responder) and B73 (a low responder) to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) for this response. We found heritable variation in the RIL population and identified flg22 response QTL on chromosomes 1, 2, and 8. We did not observe strong correlations between SGR traits and levels of flg22-induced reactive oxygen production or with other disease resistance or defense response traits we had previously measured in the same population. We discuss the implications of these findings.[Graphic: see text] Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license

Genetic and Physiological Characterization of a Calcium Deficiency Phenotype in Maize

Calcium (Ca) is an essential plant nutrient, required for signaling, cell wall fortification and growth and development. Calcium deficiency (Ca-deficiency) in maize causes leaf tip rot and a so-called “bull-whipping” or “buggy-whipping” phenotype. Seedlings of the maize line B73 displayed these Ca-deficiency-like symptoms when grown in the greenhouse with excess fertilizer during the winter months, while seedlings of the Mo17 maize line did not display these symptoms under the same conditions. These differential phenotypes could be recapitulated in ‘mini-hydroponic’ systems in the laboratory in which high ammonium, but not nitrate, levels induced the symptoms in B73 but not Mo17 seedlings. Consistent with this phenotype being caused by Ca-deficiency, addition of Ca2+ completely relieved the symptoms. These data suggest that ammonium reduces the seedling’s ability to absorb calcium, which causes the Ca-deficiency phenotype, and that this trait varies among genotypes. A recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from a B73 x Mo17 cross was used to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with the Ca-deficiency phenotype. QTL associated with variation in susceptibility to Ca-deficiency were detected on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 6 which explained between 3.30–9.94% of the observed variation. Several genes predicted to bind or be activated by calcium map to these QTL on chromosome 1, 2, 6. These results describe for the first time the genetics of Ca-deficiency symptoms in maize and in plants in general