Reference "A pathogen-induced wheat gene encodes a protein homologous to glutathione-S-transferases"

Reference ID

9124

Title

A pathogen-induced wheat gene encodes a protein homologous to glutathione-S-transferases

Source

Molecular plant-microbe interactions : MPMI, 1991, vol. 4, pp. 14-18

Authors (5)

Dudler-R	Hertig-C
Rebmann-G	Bull-J
Mauch-F

Abstract

Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) shows local, induced resistance against the plant-
pathogenic fungus Erysiphe graminis f. sp. tritici following exposure to the
nonpathogen E. g. f. sp. hordei. The onset of this resistance has been shown to
be correlated with the activation of putative defense genes, and cDNA clones
representing transcripts of induced genes have been obtained (P. Schweizer, W.
Hunziker, and E. Mosinger, Plant Molecular Biology 12:643-654, 1989). We have
cloned and sequenced a gene corresponding to one of these cDNAs, WIR5. Sequence
analysis indicated that this gene contains three exons and encodes a protein of
229 amino acids. S1 mapping showed that transcripts homologous to this gene are
at least 20 times more abundant in leaves infected 14 hr earlier with E. g. f.
sp. hordei than in control leaves. Sequence comparison showed that the WIR5 gene
product is highly homologous to glutathione-S-transferases (GSTs; EC 25.1.18) of
maize. This, together with the fact that the intron positions of both the wheat
gene and the maize GSTI gene are conserved, suggests that the cloned pathogen-
induced gene, named GstA1, encodes a wheat glutathione-S-transferase.