Cellular changes and PR-1 gene expression accompanying infection-related morphogenesis and cell progression during invasive growth Pyricularia oryzae pathotype Triticum in resistant and susceptible wheat cultivars

Abstract

Pyricularia oryzae pathotype Triticum (PoT) causes Wheat Blast, a devastating crop disease present in many wheat-producing countries. With the aim to contribute with the understanding of the mechanisms underlying pathogenesis of the fungus on wheat (Triticum aestivum), cytological and molecular studies were performed here. Susceptible and resistant interactions of wheat-PoT in cultivars of different levels of resistance were investigated by cellular changes and the molecular responses of wheat leaves according PR-1 expression. There was significant difference between susceptible (Apogee-PY15-PY34, Buck, MSINTA-PY15) and resistant (Buck-PY34, MSINTA-PY34) interactions in the responses tested. The two isolates of PoT analysed showed different ability to infect wheat plants at the cellular level during early tissue penetration analysed and documented by epi-fluorescence microscopy, patterns of PR-1 genes, and wheat plant defense reaction. Microscopic time-course analysis (24, 48, 72 and 96 h after inoculation) of individual interaction sites per leaf revealed different leaf invasion strategies of the more and less aggressive PoT isolates during the first stages of the course of pathogenesis. The results and conclusions of the present study provides the first evidence that different PR-1 spatial and temporal expression patterns occur in the early infective process of wheat-PoT, underlying two different defence mechanisms in plants according susceptible or resistant interactions. Thus, the results here laid a theoretical foundation for the future control of wheat blast using the different pattern of PR-1 gene as markers for disease resistance during the first stages of infection providing a significant contribution to a more efficient selection of wheat genotypes in breeding studies.