CRISPR-based editing of the ω- and γ-gliadin gene clusters reduces wheat immunoreactivity without affecting grain protein quality

Wheat immunotoxicity is associated with abnormal reaction to gluten-derived peptides. Attempts to reduce immunotoxicity using breeding and biotechnology often affect dough quality. Here, the multiplexed CRISPR-Cas9 editing of cultivar Fielder was used to modify gluten-encoding genes, specifically focusing on ω- and γ-gliadin gene copies, which were identified to be abundant in immunoreactive peptides based on the analysis of wheat genomes assembled using the long-read sequencing technologies. The whole-genome sequencing of an edited line showed mutation or deletion of nearly all ω-gliadin and half of the γ-gliadin gene copies and confirmed the lack of editing in the α/β-gliadin genes. The estimated 75% and 64% reduction in ω- and γ-gliadin content, respectively, had no negative impact on the end-use quality characteristics of grain protein and dough. A 47-fold immunoreactivity reduction compared to a non-edited line was demonstrated using antibodies against immunotoxic peptides. Our results indicate that the targeted CRISPR-based modification of the ω- and γ-gliadin gene copies determined to be abundant in immunoreactive peptides by analysing high-quality genome assemblies is an effective mean for reducing immunotoxicity of wheat cultivars while minimizing the impact of editing on protein quality.

Sequencing 4.3 million mutations in wheat promoters to understand and modify gene expression

Wheat is an important contributor to global food security, and further improvements are required to feed a growing human population. Functional genetics and genomics tools can help us to understand the function of different genes and to engineer beneficial changes. In this study, we used a promoter capture assay to sequence 2-kb regions upstream of all high-confidence annotated genes from 1,513 mutagenized plants from the tetraploid wheat variety Kronos. We identified 4.3 million induced mutations with an accuracy of 99.8%, resulting in a mutation density of 41.9 mutations per kb. We also remapped Kronos exome capture reads to Chinese Spring RefSeq v1.1, identified 4.7 million mutations, and predicted their effects on annotated genes. Using these predictions, we identified 59% more nonsynonymous substitutions and 49% more truncation mutations than in the original study. To show the biological value of the promoter dataset, we selected two mutations within the promoter of the VRN-A1 vernalization gene. Both mutations, located within transcription factor binding sites, significantly altered VRN-A1 expression, and one reduced the number of spikelets per spike. These publicly available sequenced mutant datasets provide rapid and inexpensive access to induced variation in the promoters and coding regions of most wheat genes. These mutations can be used to understand and modulate gene expression and phenotypes for both basic and commercial applications, where limited governmental regulations can facilitate deployment. These mutant collections, together with gene editing, provide valuable tools to accelerate functional genetic studies in this economically important crop.

Multiplexed promoter and gene editing in wheat using a virus-based guide RNA delivery system

The low efficiency of genetic transformation and gene editing across diverse cultivars hinder the broad application of CRISPR technology for crop improvement. The development of virus-based methods of CRISPR-Cas system delivery into the plant cells holds great promise to overcome these limitations. Here, we perform direct inoculation of wheat leaves with the barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV) transcripts to deliver guide RNAs (sgRNA) into the Cas9-expressing wheat. We demonstrate that wheat inoculation with the pool of BSMV-sgRNAs could be used to generate heritable precise deletions in the promoter region of a transcription factor and to perform multiplexed editing of agronomic genes. We transfer the high-expressing locus of Cas9 into adapted spring and winter cultivars by marker-assisted introgression and use of the BSMV-sgRNAs to edit two agronomic genes. A strategy presented in our study could be applied to any adapted cultivar for creating new cis-regulatory diversity or large-scale editing of multiple genes in biological pathways or QTL regions, opening possibilities for the effective engineering of crop genomes, and accelerating gene discovery and trait improvement efforts.

Population genomics of Puccinia graminis f.sp. tritici highlights the role of admixture in the origin of virulent wheat rust races

Puccinia graminis f.sp. tritici (Pgt) causes stem rust disease in wheat that can result in severe yield losses. The factors driving the evolution of its virulence and adaptation remain poorly characterized. We utilize long-read sequencing to develop a haplotype-resolved genome assembly of a U.S. isolate of Pgt. Using Pgt haplotypes as a reference, we characterize the structural variants (SVs) and single nucleotide polymorphisms in a diverse panel of isolates. SVs impact the repertoire of predicted effectors, secreted proteins involved in host-pathogen interaction, and show evidence of purifying selection. By analyzing global and local genomic ancestry we demonstrate that the origin of 8 out of 12 Pgt clades is linked with either somatic hybridization or sexual recombination between the diverged donor populations. Our study shows that SVs and admixture events appear to play an important role in broadening Pgt virulence and the origin of highly virulent races, creating a resource for studying the evolution of Pgt virulence and preventing future epidemic outbreaks.

The evolutionary patterns of barley pericentromeric chromosome regions, as shaped by linkage disequilibrium and domestication

The distribution of recombination events along large cereal chromosomes is uneven and is generally restricted to gene-rich telomeric ends. To understand how the lack of recombination affects diversity in the large pericentromeric regions, we analysed deep exome capture data from a final panel of 815 Hordeum vulgare (barley) cultivars, landraces and wild barleys, sampled from across their eco-geographical ranges. We defined and compared variant data across the pericentromeric and non-pericentromeric regions, observing a clear partitioning of diversity both within and between chromosomes and germplasm groups. Dramatically reduced diversity was found in the pericentromeres of both cultivars and landraces when compared with wild barley. We observed a mixture of completely and partially differentiated single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) between domesticated and wild gene pools, suggesting that domesticated gene pools were derived from multiple wild ancestors. Patterns of genome-wide linkage disequilibrium, haplotype block size and number, and variant frequency within blocks showed clear contrasts among individual chromosomes and between cultivars and wild barleys. Although most cultivar chromosomes shared a single major pericentromeric haplotype, chromosome 7H clearly differentiated the two-row and six-row types associated with different geographical origins. Within the pericentromeric regions we identified 22 387 non-synonymous SNPs, 92 of which were fixed for alternative alleles in cultivar versus wild accessions. Surprisingly, only 29 SNPs found exclusively in the cultivars were predicted to be 'highly deleterious'. Overall, our data reveal an unconventional pericentromeric genetic landscape among distinct barley gene pools, with different evolutionary processes driving domestication and diversification.

Genomic variants affecting homoeologous gene expression dosage contribute to agronomic trait variation in allopolyploid wheat

Allopolyploidy greatly expands the range of possible regulatory interactions among functionally redundant homoeologous genes. However, connection between the emerging regulatory complexity and expression and phenotypic diversity in polyploid crops remains elusive. Here, we use diverse wheat accessions to map expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) and evaluate their effects on the population-scale variation in homoeolog expression dosage. The relative contribution of cis- and trans-eQTL to homoeolog expression variation is strongly affected by both selection and demographic events. Though trans-acting effects play major role in expression regulation, the expression dosage of homoeologs is largely influenced by cis-acting variants, which appear to be subjected to selection. The frequency and expression of homoeologous gene alleles showing strong expression dosage bias are predictive of variation in yield-related traits, and have likely been impacted by breeding for increased productivity. Our study highlights the importance of genomic variants affecting homoeolog expression dosage in shaping agronomic phenotypes and points at their potential utility for improving yield in polyploid crops.

Expanding the range of editable targets in the wheat genome using the variants of the Cas12a and Cas9 nucleases

The development of CRISPR-based editors recognizing distinct protospacer-adjacent motifs (PAMs), or having different spacer length/structure requirements broadens the range of possible genomic applications. We evaluated the natural and engineered variants of Cas12a (FnCas12a and LbCas12a) and Cas9 for their ability to induce mutations in endogenous genes controlling important agronomic traits in wheat. Unlike FnCas12a, LbCas12a-induced mutations in the wheat genome, even though with a lower rate than that reported for SpCas9. The eight-fold improvement in the gene editing efficiency was achieved for LbCas12a by using the guides flanked by ribozymes and driven by the RNA polymerase II promoter from switchgrass. The efficiency of multiplexed genome editing (MGE) using LbCas12a was mostly similar to that obtained using the simplex RNA guides and showed substantial increase after subjecting transgenic plants to high-temperature treatment. We successfully applied LbCas12a-MGE for generating heritable mutations in a gene controlling grain size and weight in wheat. We showed that the range of editable loci in the wheat genome could be further expanded by using the engineered variants of Cas12a (LbCas12a-RVR) and Cas9 (Cas9-NG and xCas9) that recognize the TATV and NG PAMs, respectively, with the Cas9-NG showing higher editing efficiency on the targets with atypical PAMs compared to xCas9. In conclusion, our study reports a set of validated natural and engineered variants of Cas12a and Cas9 editors for targeting loci in the wheat genome not amenable to modification using the original SpCas9 nuclease.

Development of the Wheat Practical Haplotype Graph Database as a Resource for Genotyping Data Storage and Genotype Imputation

To improve the efficiency of high-density genotype data storage and imputation in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), we applied the Practical Haplotype Graph (PHG) tool. The Wheat PHG database was built using whole-exome capture sequencing data from a diverse set of 65 wheat accessions. Population haplotypes were inferred for the reference genome intervals defined by the boundaries of the high-quality gene models. Missing genotypes in the inference panels, composed of wheat cultivars or recombinant inbred lines genotyped by exome capture, genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS), or whole-genome skim-seq sequencing approaches, were imputed using the Wheat PHG database. Though imputation accuracy varied depending on the method of sequencing and coverage depth, we found 92% imputation accuracy with 0.01× sequence coverage, which was slightly lower than the accuracy obtained using the 0.5× sequence coverage (96.6%). Compared to Beagle, on average, PHG imputation was ∼3.5% (P-value < 2 × 10⁻¹⁴) more accurate, and showed 27% higher accuracy at imputing a rare haplotype introgressed from a wild relative into wheat. We found reduced accuracy of imputation with independent 2× GBS data (88.6%), which increases to 89.2% with the inclusion of parental haplotypes in the database. The accuracy reduction with GBS is likely associated with the small overlap between GBS markers and the exome capture dataset, which was used for constructing PHG. The highest imputation accuracy was obtained with exome capture for the wheat D genome, which also showed the highest levels of linkage disequilibrium and proportion of identity-by-descent regions among accessions in the PHG database. We demonstrate that genetic mapping based on genotypes imputed using PHG identifies SNPs with a broader range of effect sizes that together explain a higher proportion of genetic variance for heading date and meiotic crossover rate compared to previous studies.

The Haplotype-Based Analysis of Aegilops tauschii Introgression Into Hard Red Winter Wheat and Its Impact on Productivity Traits

The introgression from wild relatives have a great potential to broaden the availability of beneficial allelic diversity for crop improvement in breeding programs. Here, we assessed the impact of the introgression from 21 diverse accessions of Aegilops tauschii, the diploid ancestor of the wheat D genome, into 6 hard red winter wheat cultivars on yield and yield component traits. We used 5.2 million imputed D genome SNPs identified by the whole-genome sequencing of parental lines and the sequence-based genotyping of introgression population, including 351 BC₁F_3:5 lines. Phenotyping data collected from the irrigated and non-irrigated field trials revealed that up to 23% of the introgression lines (ILs) produce more grain than the parents and check cultivars. Based on 16 yield stability statistics, the yield of 12 ILs (3.4%) was stable across treatments, years, and locations; 5 of these lines were also high yielding lines, producing 9.8% more grain than the average yield of check cultivars. The most significant SNP- and haplotype-trait associations were identified on chromosome arms 2DS and 6DL for the spikelet number per spike (SNS), on chromosome arms 2DS, 3DS, 5DS, and 7DS for grain length (GL) and on chromosome arms 1DL, 2DS, 6DL, and 7DS for grain width (GW). The introgression of haplotypes from A. tauschii parents was associated with an increase in SNS, which was positively correlated with a heading date (HD), whereas the haplotypes from hexaploid wheat parents were associated with an increase in GW. We show that the haplotypes on 2DS associated with an increase in the spikelet number and HD are linked with multiple introgressed alleles of Ppd-D1 identified by the whole-genome sequencing of A. tauschii parents. Meanwhile, some introgressed haplotypes exhibited significant pleiotropic effects with the direction of effects on the yield component traits being largely consistent with the previously reported trade-offs, there were haplotype combinations associated with the positive trends in yield. The characterized repertoire of the introgressed haplotypes derived from A. tauschii accessions with the combined positive effects on yield and yield component traits in elite germplasm provides a valuable source of alleles for improving the productivity of winter wheat by optimizing the contribution of component traits to yield.

Differential chromatin accessibility landscape reveals structural and functional features of the allopolyploid wheat chromosomes

Background

Our understanding of how the complexity of the wheat genome influences the distribution of chromatin states along the homoeologous chromosomes is limited. Using a differential nuclease sensitivity assay, we investigate the chromatin states of the coding and repetitive regions of the allopolyploid wheat genome.

Results

Although open chromatin is found to be significantly enriched around genes, the majority of MNase-sensitive regions are located within transposable elements (TEs). Chromatin of the smaller D genome is more accessible than that of the larger A and B genomes. Chromatin states of different TEs vary among families and are influenced by the TEs’ chromosomal position and proximity to genes. While the chromatin accessibility of genes is influenced by proximity to TEs, and not by their position on the chromosomes, we observe a negative chromatin accessibility gradient along the telomere-centromere axis in the intergenic regions, positively correlated with the distance between genes. Both gene expression levels and homoeologous gene expression bias are correlated with chromatin accessibility in promoter regions. The differential nuclease sensitivity assay accurately predicts previously detected centromere locations. SNPs located within more accessible chromatin explain a higher proportion of genetic variance for a number of agronomic traits than SNPs located within more closed chromatin.

Conclusions

Chromatin states in the wheat genome are shaped by the interplay of repetitive and gene-encoding regions that are predictive of the functional and structural organization of chromosomes, providing a powerful framework for detecting genomic features involved in gene regulation and prioritizing genomic variation to explain phenotypes.

Sequence-based mapping identifies a candidate transcription repressor underlying awn suppression at the B1 locus in wheat

Awns are stiff, hair-like structures which grow from the lemmas of wheat (Triticum aestivum) and other grasses that contribute to photosynthesis and play a role in seed dispersal. Variation in awn length in domesticated wheat is controlled primarily by three major genes, most commonly the dominant awn suppressor Tipped1 (B1). This study identifies a transcription repressor responsible for awn inhibition at the B1 locus. Association mapping was combined with analysis in biparental populations to delimit B1 to a distal region of 5AL colocalized with QTL for number of spikelets per spike, kernel weight, kernel length, and test weight. Fine-mapping located B1 to a region containing only two predicted genes, including C2H2 zinc finger transcriptional repressor TraesCS5A02G542800 upregulated in developing spikes of awnless individuals. Deletions encompassing this candidate gene were present in awned mutants of an awnless wheat. Sequence polymorphisms in the B1 coding region were not observed in diverse wheat germplasm whereas a nearby polymorphism was highly predictive of awn suppression. Transcriptional repression by B1 is the major determinant of awn suppression in global wheat germplasm. It is associated with increased number of spikelets per spike and decreased kernel size.

Gene editing of the wheat homologs of TONNEAU1-recruiting motif encoding gene affects grain shape and weight in wheat

Grain size and weight are important components of a suite of yield-related traits in crops. Here, we showed that the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing of TaGW7, a homolog of rice OsGW7 encoding a TONNEAU1-recruiting motif (TRM) protein, affects grain shape and weight in allohexaploid wheat. By editing the TaGW7 homoeologs in the B and D genomes, we showed that mutations in either of the two or both genomes increased the grain width and weight but reduced the grain length. The effect sizes of mutations in the TaGW7 gene homoeologs coincided with the relative levels of their expression in the B and D genomes. The effects of gene editing on grain morphology and weight traits were dosage dependent with the double-copy mutant showing larger effect than the respective single copy mutants. The TaGW7-centered gene co-expression network indicated that this gene is involved in the pathways regulating cell division and organ growth, also confirmed by the cellular co-localization of TaGW7 with α- and β-tubulin proteins, the building blocks of microtubule arrays. The analyses of exome capture data in tetraploid domesticated and wild emmer, and hexaploid wheat revealed the loss of diversity around TaGW7-associated with domestication selection, suggesting that TaGW7 is likely to play an important role in the evolution of yield component traits in wheat. Our study showed how integrating CRISPR-Cas9 system with cross-species comparison can help to uncover the function of a gene fixed in wheat for allelic variants targeted by domestication selection and select targets for engineering new gene variants for crop improvement.

Exome sequencing highlights the role of wild-relative introgression in shaping the adaptive landscape of the wheat genome

Introgression is a potential source of beneficial genetic diversity. The contribution of introgression to adaptive evolution and improvement of wheat as it was disseminated worldwide remains unknown. We used targeted re-sequencing of 890 diverse accessions of hexaploid and tetraploid wheat to identify wild-relative introgression. Introgression, and selection for improvement and environmental adaptation, each reduced deleterious allele burden. Introgression increased diversity genome wide and in regions harboring major agronomic genes, and contributed alleles explaining a substantial proportion of phenotypic variation. These results suggest that historic gene flow from wild relatives made a substantial contribution to the adaptive diversity of modern bread wheat.

Gene editing and mutagenesis reveal inter-cultivar differences and additivity in the contribution of TaGW2 homoeologues to grain size and weight in wheat

KEY MESSAGE

CRISPR-Cas9-based genome editing and EMS mutagenesis revealed inter-cultivar differences and additivity in the contribution of TaGW2 homoeologues to grain size and weight in wheat. The TaGW2 gene homoeologues have been reported to be negative regulators of grain size (GS) and thousand grain weight (TGW) in wheat. However, the contribution of each homoeologue to trait variation among different wheat cultivars is not well documented. We used the CRISPR-Cas9 system and TILLING to mutagenize each homoeologous gene copy in cultivars Bobwhite and Paragon, respectively. Plants carrying single-copy nonsense mutations in different genomes showed different levels of GS/TGW increase, with TGW increasing by an average of 5.5% (edited lines) and 5.3% (TILLING mutants). In any combination, the double homoeologue mutants showed higher phenotypic effects than the respective single-genome mutants. The double mutants had on average 12.1% (edited) and 10.5% (TILLING) higher TGW with respect to wild-type lines. The highest increase in GS and TGW was shown for triple mutants of both cultivars, with increases in 16.3% (edited) and 20.7% (TILLING) in TGW. The additive effects of the TaGW2 homoeologues were also demonstrated by the negative correlation between the functional gene copy number and GS/TGW in Bobwhite mutants and an F2 population. The highest single-genome increases in GS and TGW in Paragon and Bobwhite were obtained by mutations in the B and D genomes, respectively. These inter-cultivar differences in the phenotypic effects between the TaGW2 gene homoeologues coincide with inter-cultivar differences in the homoeologue expression levels. These results indicate that GS/TGW variation in wheat can be modulated by the dosage of homoeologous genes with inter-cultivar differences in the magnitude of the individual homoeologue effects.

The genetic architecture of genome-wide recombination rate variation in allopolyploid wheat revealed by nested association mapping

Recombination affects the fate of alleles in populations by imposing constraints on the reshuffling of genetic information. Understanding the genetic basis of these constraints is critical for manipulating the recombination process to improve the resolution of genetic mapping, and reducing the negative effects of linkage drag and deleterious genetic load in breeding. Using sequence-based genotyping of a wheat nested association mapping (NAM) population of 2,100 recombinant inbred lines created by crossing 29 diverse lines, we mapped QTL affecting the distribution and frequency of 102 000 crossovers (CO). Genome-wide recombination rate variation was mostly defined by rare alleles with small effects together explaining up to 48.6% of variation. Most QTL were additive and showed predominantly trans-acting effects. The QTL affecting the proximal COs also acted additively without increasing the frequency of distal COs. We showed that the regions with decreased recombination carry more single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with possible deleterious effects than the regions with a high recombination rate. Therefore, our study offers insights into the genetic basis of recombination rate variation in wheat and its effect on the distribution of deleterious SNPs across the genome. The identified trans-acting additive QTL can be utilized to manipulate CO frequency and distribution in the large polyploid wheat genome opening the possibility to improve the efficiency of gene pyramiding and reducing the deleterious genetic load in the low-recombining pericentromeric regions of chromosomes.

Transgenerational CRISPR-Cas9 Activity Facilitates Multiplex Gene Editing in Allopolyploid Wheat

The CRISPR-Cas9-based multiplexed gene editing (MGE) provides a powerful method to modify multiple genomic regions simultaneously controlling different agronomic traits in crops. We applied the MGE construct built by combining the tandemly arrayed tRNA–gRNA units to generate heritable mutations in the TaGW2, TaLpx-1, and TaMLO genes of hexaploid wheat. The knockout mutations generated by this construct in all three homoeologous copies of one of the target genes, TaGW2, resulted in a substantial increase in seed size and thousand grain weight. We showed that the non-modified gRNA targets in the early generation plants can be edited by CRISPR-Cas9 in the following generations. Our results demonstrate that transgenerational gene editing activity can serve as the source of novel variation in the progeny of CRISPR-Cas9-expressing plants and suggest that the Cas9-inducible trait transfer for crop improvement can be achieved by crossing the plants expressing the gene editing constructs with the lines of interest.

Variation in the AvrSr35 gene determines Sr35 resistance against wheat stem rust race Ug99

Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici (Pgt) causes wheat stem rust, a devastating fungal disease. The Sr35 resistance gene confers immunity against this pathogen's most virulent races, including Ug99. We used comparative whole-genome sequencing of chemically mutagenized and natural Pgt isolates to identify a fungal gene named AvrSr35 that is required for Sr35 avirulence. The AvrSr35 gene encodes a secreted protein capable of interacting with Sr35 and triggering the immune response. We show that the origin of Pgt isolates virulent on Sr35 is associated with the nonfunctionalization of the AvrSr35 gene by the insertion of a mobile element. The discovery of AvrSr35 provides a new tool for Pgt surveillance, identification of host susceptibility targets, and characterization of the molecular determinants of immunity in wheat.

Exome sequence genotype imputation in globally diverse hexaploid wheat accessions

Imputing genotypes from the 90K SNP chip to exome sequence in wheat was moderately accurate. We investigated the factors that affect imputation and propose several strategies to improve accuracy. Imputing genetic marker genotypes from low to high density has been proposed as a cost-effective strategy to increase the power of downstream analyses (e.g. genome-wide association studies and genomic prediction) for a given budget. However, imputation is often imperfect and its accuracy depends on several factors. Here, we investigate the effects of reference population selection algorithms, marker density and imputation algorithms (Beagle4 and FImpute) on the accuracy of imputation from low SNP density (9K array) to the Infinium 90K single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array for a collection of 837 hexaploid wheat Watkins landrace accessions. Based on these results, we then used the best performing reference selection and imputation algorithms to investigate imputation from 90K to exome sequence for a collection of 246 globally diverse wheat accessions. Accession-to-nearest-entry and genomic relationship-based methods were the best performing selection algorithms, and FImpute resulted in higher accuracy and was more efficient than Beagle4. The accuracy of imputing exome capture SNPs was comparable to imputing from 9 to 90K at approximately 0.71. This relatively low imputation accuracy is in part due to inconsistency between 90K and exome sequence formats. We also found the accuracy of imputation could be substantially improved to 0.82 when choosing an equivalent number of exome SNP, instead of 90K SNPs on the existing array, as the lower density set. We present a number of recommendations to increase the accuracy of exome imputation.

Divergent and convergent modes of interaction between wheat and Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici isolates revealed by the comparative gene co-expression network and genome analyses

BACKGROUND

Two opposing evolutionary constraints exert pressure on plant pathogens: one to diversify virulence factors in order to evade plant defenses, and the other to retain virulence factors critical for maintaining a compatible interaction with the plant host. To better understand how the diversified arsenals of fungal genes promote interaction with the same compatible wheat line, we performed a comparative genomic analysis of two North American isolates of Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici (Pgt).

RESULTS

The patterns of inter-isolate divergence in the secreted candidate effector genes were compared with the levels of conservation and divergence of plant-pathogen gene co-expression networks (GCN) developed for each isolate. Comprative genomic analyses revealed substantial level of interisolate divergence in effector gene complement and sequence divergence. Gene Ontology (GO) analyses of the conserved and unique parts of the isolate-specific GCNs identified a number of conserved host pathways targeted by both isolates. Interestingly, the degree of inter-isolate sub-network conservation varied widely for the different host pathways and was positively associated with the proportion of conserved effector candidates associated with each sub-network. While different Pgt isolates tended to exploit similar wheat pathways for infection, the mode of plant-pathogen interaction varied for different pathways with some pathways being associated with the conserved set of effectors and others being linked with the diverged or isolate-specific effectors.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data suggest that at the intra-species level pathogen populations likely maintain divergent sets of effectors capable of targeting the same plant host pathways. This functional redundancy may play an important role in the dynamic of the "arms-race" between host and pathogen serving as the basis for diverse virulence strategies and creating conditions where mutations in certain effector groups will not have a major effect on the pathogen's ability to infect the host.

Long read and single molecule DNA sequencing simplifies genome assembly and TAL effector gene analysis of Xanthomonas translucens

Background

The species Xanthomonas translucens encompasses a complex of bacterial strains that cause diseases and yield loss on grass species including important cereal crops. Three pathovars, X. translucens pv. undulosa, X. translucens pv. translucens and X. translucens pv.cerealis, have been described as pathogens of wheat, barley, and oats. However, no complete genome sequence for a strain of this complex is currently available.

Results

A complete genome sequence of X. translucens pv. undulosa strain XT4699 was obtained by using PacBio long read, single molecule, real time (SMRT) DNA sequences and Illumina sequences. Draft genome sequences of nineteen additional X. translucens strains, which were collected from wheat or barley in different regions and at different times, were generated by Illumina sequencing. Phylogenetic relationships among different Xanthomonas strains indicates that X. translucens are members of a distinct clade from so-called group 2 xanthomonads and three pathovars of this species, undulosa, translucens and cerealis, represent distinct subclades in the group 1 clade. Knockout mutation of type III secretion system of XT4699 eliminated the ability to cause water-soaking symptoms on wheat and barley and resulted in a reduction in populations on wheat in comparison to the wild type strain. Sequence comparison of X. translucens strains revealed the genetic variation on type III effector repertories among different pathovars or within one pathovar. The full genome sequence of XT4699 reveals the presence of eight members of the Transcription-Activator Like (TAL) effector genes, which are phylogenetically distant from previous known TAL effector genes of group 2 xanthomonads. Microarray and qRT-PCR analyses revealed TAL effector-specific wheat gene expression modulation.

Conclusions

PacBio long read sequencing facilitates the assembly of Xanthomonas genomes and the multiple TAL effector genes, which are difficult to assemble from short read platforms. The complete genome sequence of X. translucens pv. undulosa strain XT4699 and draft genome sequences of nineteen additional X. translucens strains provides a resource for further genetic analyses of pathogenic diversity and host range of the X. translucens species complex. TAL effectors of XT4699 strain play roles in modulating wheat host gene expressions.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-2348-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Phylogenomics of Xanthomonas field strains infecting pepper and tomato reveals diversity in effector repertoires and identifies determinants of host specificity

Bacterial spot disease of pepper and tomato is caused by four distinct Xanthomonas species and is a severely limiting factor on fruit yield in these crops. The genetic diversity and the type III effector repertoires of a large sampling of field strains for this disease have yet to be explored on a genomic scale, limiting our understanding of pathogen evolution in an agricultural setting. Genomes of 67 Xanthomonas euvesicatoria (Xe), Xanthomonas perforans (Xp), and Xanthomonas gardneri (Xg) strains isolated from diseased pepper and tomato fields in the southeastern and midwestern United States were sequenced in order to determine the genetic diversity in field strains. Type III effector repertoires were computationally predicted for each strain, and multiple methods of constructing phylogenies were employed to understand better the genetic relationship of strains in the collection. A division in the Xp population was detected based on core genome phylogeny, supporting a model whereby the host-range expansion of Xp field strains on pepper is due, in part, to a loss of the effector AvrBsT. Xp-host compatibility was further studied with the observation that a double deletion of AvrBsT and XopQ allows a host range expansion for Nicotiana benthamiana. Extensive sampling of field strains and an improved understanding of effector content will aid in efforts to design disease resistance strategies targeted against highly conserved core effectors.

A haplotype map of allohexaploid wheat reveals distinct patterns of selection on homoeologous genomes

Background

Bread wheat is an allopolyploid species with a large, highly repetitive genome. To investigate the impact of selection on variants distributed among homoeologous wheat genomes and to build a foundation for understanding genotype-phenotype relationships, we performed population-scale re-sequencing of a diverse panel of wheat lines.

Results

A sample of 62 diverse lines was re-sequenced using the whole exome capture and genotyping-by-sequencing approaches. We describe the allele frequency, functional significance, and chromosomal distribution of 1.57 million single nucleotide polymorphisms and 161,719 small indels. Our results suggest that duplicated homoeologous genes are under purifying selection. We find contrasting patterns of variation and inter-variant associations among wheat genomes; this, in addition to demographic factors, could be explained by differences in the effect of directional selection on duplicated homoeologs. Only a small fraction of the homoeologous regions harboring selected variants overlapped among the wheat genomes in any given wheat line. These selected regions are enriched for loci associated with agronomic traits detected in genome-wide association studies.

Conclusions

Evidence suggests that directional selection in allopolyploids rarely acted on multiple parallel advantageous mutations across homoeologous regions, likely indicating that a fitness benefit could be obtained by a mutation at any one of the homoeologs. Additional advantageous variants in other homoelogs probably either contributed little benefit, or were unavailable in populations subjected to directional selection. We hypothesize that allopolyploidy may have increased the likelihood of beneficial allele recovery by broadening the set of possible selection targets.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13059-015-0606-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Physiology and transcriptomics of water-deficit stress responses in wheat cultivars TAM 111 and TAM 112

Hard red winter wheat crops on the U.S. Southern Great Plains often experience moderate to severe drought stress, especially during the grain filling stage, resulting in significant yield losses. Cultivars TAM 111 and TAM 112 are widely cultivated in the region, share parentage and showed superior but distinct adaption mechanisms under water-deficit (WD) conditions. Nevertheless, the physiological and molecular basis of their adaptation remains unknown. A greenhouse study was conducted to understand the differences in the physiological and transcriptomic responses of TAM 111 and TAM 112 to WD stress. Whole-plant data indicated that TAM 112 used more water, produced more biomass and grain yield under WD compared to TAM 111. Leaf-level data at the grain filling stage indicated that TAM 112 had elevated abscisic acid (ABA) content and reduced stomatal conductance and photosynthesis as compared to TAM 111. Sustained WD during the grain filling stage also resulted in greater flag leaf transcriptome changes in TAM 112 than TAM 111. Transcripts associated with photosynthesis, carbohydrate metabolism, phytohormone metabolism, and other dehydration responses were uniquely regulated between cultivars. These results suggested a differential role for ABA in regulating physiological and transcriptomic changes associated with WD stress and potential involvement in the superior adaptation and yield of TAM 112.

Efficient Genome-Wide Detection and Cataloging of EMS-Induced Mutations Using Exome Capture and Next-Generation Sequencing

Chemical mutagenesis efficiently generates phenotypic variation in otherwise homogeneous genetic backgrounds, enabling functional analysis of genes. Advances in mutation detection have brought the utility of induced mutant populations on par with those produced by insertional mutagenesis, but systematic cataloguing of mutations would further increase their utility. We examined the suitability of multiplexed global exome capture and sequencing coupled with custom-developed bioinformatics tools to identify mutations in well-characterized mutant populations of rice (Oryza sativa) and wheat (Triticum aestivum). In rice, we identified ∼18,000 induced mutations from 72 independent M2 individuals. Functional evaluation indicated the recovery of potentially deleterious mutations for >2600 genes. We further observed that specific sequence and cytosine methylation patterns surrounding the targeted guanine residues strongly affect their probability to be alkylated by ethyl methanesulfonate. Application of these methods to six independent M2 lines of tetraploid wheat demonstrated that our bioinformatics pipeline is applicable to polyploids. In conclusion, we provide a method for developing large-scale induced mutation resources with relatively small investments that is applicable to resource-poor organisms. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that large libraries of sequenced mutations can be readily generated, providing enhanced opportunities to study gene function and assess the effect of sequence and chromatin context on mutations.

Transcriptomics of induced defense responses to greenbug aphid feeding in near isogenic wheat lines

The greenbug aphid, Schizaphis graminum (Rondani) is an important cereal pest, periodically threatening wheat yields in the United States and around the world. The single dominant gene, Gb3-based resistance is highly durable against prevailing greenbug biotypes under field conditions; however, the molecular mechanisms of Gb3-mediated defense responses remain unknown. We used Affymetrix GeneChip Wheat Genome Arrays to investigate the transcriptomics of host defense responses upon greenbug feeding on resistant and susceptible bulks (RB and SB, respectively) derived from two near-isogenic lines. The study identified 692 differentially expressed transcripts and further functional classification recognized 122 transcripts that are putatively associated to mediate biotic stress responses. In RB, Gb3-mediated resistance resulted in activation of transmembrane receptor kinases and signaling-related transcripts involved in early signal transduction cascades. While in SB, transcripts mediating final steps in jasmonic acid biosynthesis, redox homeostasis, peroxidases, glutathione S-transferases, and notable defense-related secondary metabolites were induced. Also transcripts involved in callose and cell wall decomposition were elevated SB, plausibly to facilitate uninterrupted feeding operations. These results suggest that Gb3-mediated resistance is less vulnerable to cell wall modification and the data provides ample tools for further investigations concerning R gene based model of resistance.