Browsing by Author "Rostoks, Nils"

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    Barley stem rust resistance genes: structure and function
    (Plant Genome, 2009-07) Steffenson, Brian; Kleinhofs, Andris; Brueggeman, Robert; Nirmala, Jayaveeramuthu; Zhang, Ling; Mirlohi, Aghafakhr; Druka, Arnis; Rostoks, Nils
    Rusts are biotrophic pathogens that attack many plant species but are particularly destructive on cereal crops. The stem rusts (caused by Puccinia graminis) have historically caused severe crop losses and continue to threaten production today. Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) breeders have controlled major stem rust epidemics since the 1940s with a single durable resistance gene Rpg1. As new epidemics have threatened, additional resistance genes were identified to counter new rust races, such as the rpg4/Rpg5 complex locus against races QCCJ and TTKSK. To understand how these genes work, we initiated research to clone and characterize them. The Rpg1 gene encodes a unique protein kinase with dual kinase domains, an active kinase, and a pseudokinase. Function of both domains is essential to confer resistance. The rpg4 and Rpg5 genes are closely linked and function coordinately to confer resistance to several wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) stem rust races, including the race TTKSK (also called Ug99) that threatens the world's barley and wheat crops. The Rpg5 gene encodes typical resistance gene domains NBS, LRR, and protein kinase but is unique in that all three domains reside in a single gene, a previously unknown structure among plant disease resistance genes. The rpg4 gene encodes an actin depolymerizing factor that functions in cytoskeleton rearrangement.
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    Genetically engineered stem rust resistance in barley using the Rpg1 gene
    (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2003-01-07) Steffenson, Brian; Horvath, Henriette; Rostoks, Nils; Brueggeman, Robert; Wettstein, Diter von; Kleinhofs, Andris
    The stem-rust-susceptible barley cv. Golden Promise was transformed by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of immature zygotic embryos with the Rpg1 genomic clone of cv. Morex containing a 520-bp 5′ promoter region, 4,919-bp gene region, and 547-bp 3′ nontranscribed sequence. Representatives of 42 transgenic barley lines obtained were characterized for their seedling infection response to pathotype Pgt-MCC of the stem rust fungus Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici. Golden Promise was converted from a highly susceptible cultivar into a highly resistant one by transformation with the dominant Rpg1 gene. A single copy of the gene was sufficient to confer resistance against stem rust, and progenies from several transformants segregated in a 3:1 ratio for resistance/susceptibility as expected for Mendelian inheritance. These results unequivocally demonstrate that the DNA segment isolated by map-based cloning is the functional Rpg1 gene for stem rust, resistance. One of the remarkable aspects about the transformants is that they exhibit a higher level of resistance than the original sources of Rpg1 (cvs. Chevron and Peatland). In most cases, the Golden Promise transformants exhibited a highly resistant reaction where no visible sign of infection was evident. Hypersensitive necrotic “fleck” reactions were also observed, but less frequently. With both infection types, pathogen sporulation was prevented. Southern blot and RT-PCR analysis revealed that neither Rpg1 gene copy number nor expression levels could account for the increased resistance observed in Golden Promise transformants. Nevertheless, this research demonstrates that stem-rust-susceptible barley can be made resistant by transformation with the cloned Rpg1 gene.
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    Sub-cellular localization and functions of the barley stem rust resistance receptor-like serine/threonine-specific protein kinase Rpg1
    (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2006-05-09) Steffenson, Brian; Nirmala, Jayaveeramuthu; Brueggeman, Robert; Maier, Christina; Clay, Christine; Rostoks, Nils; Kannangara, C.Gamini; Wettstein, Diter von; Kleinhofs, Andris
    The Rpg1 gene confers resistance to many pathotypes of the stem rust fungus Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici and has protected barley from serious disease losses for over 60 years. Rpg1 encodes a constitutively expressed protein with two tandem kinase domains. Fractionation by differential centrifugation and aqueous two-phase separation of the microsome proteins located Rpg1 mainly in the cytosol but also in the plasma membrane and intracellular membranes. Recombinant Rpg1 autophosphorylates in vitro intramolecularly only serine and threonine amino acids with a preference for Mn2+ cations and a Km of 0.15 and a Vmax of 0.47 nmol·min−1·mg−1 protein. The inability of wild-type Rpg1 to transphosphorylate a recombinant Rpg1 inactivated by site-directed mutation confirmed that Rpg1 autophosphorylation proceeds exclusively via an intramolecular mechanism. Site-directed mutagenesis of the two adjacent lysine residues in the ATP anchor of the two-kinase domains established that the first of the two tandem kinase domains is nonfunctional and that lysine 461 of the second domain is the catalytically active residue. Transgenic barley, expressing Rpg1 mutated in either the kinase 1 or 2 domains, were fully susceptible to P. graminis f. sp. tritici revealing requirement of both kinase domains for resistance. In planta-expressed Rpg1 mutant protein confirmed that mutation in domain 2, but not 1, rendered the protein incapable of autophosphorylation.