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Efficacy of seed defense proteins in biofortified pearl millet lines against blast and downy mildew

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Abstract

Pearl millet is a nutritious and climate-resilient dryland cereal crop. The present study was conducted to identify the defense proteins in seed extrudes of 25 biofortified (Fe and Zn) inbred lines, and investigate their efficacy against blast (isolates Pg 45, Pg 138, and Pg 186) and downy mildew (isolates Sg 409, Sg 445, and Sg 576) diseases. The study revealed the presence of cysteine protease inhibitors (4.3–58.5 units/mg) as well as pathogenesis-related (PR) hydrolases including chitinases (5.3–16.3 units/ml), β-1,3-glucanases (7.3–32.9 units/mg), and cellulases (0.19–4.11 units/mg) in the test lines. The activity levels of cystatins and PR hydrolases in the pearl millet lines were in relative consistency with the resistance levels observed in the greenhouse screenings against blast and downy mildew diseases. Furthermore, antifungal screenings of seed proteins against blast pathogen exhibited a significant reduction in radial growth of Pg 138 (57%) followed by Pg 186 (13%) and Pg 45 (10%). Spectrophotometric assays (A595) exhibited significant retardation in spore germination and initial growth (48 h) of Pg 45 (53.8–87.3%) followed by Pg 186 (19.2–61.3%) and Pg 138 (1.5–36.7%). Furthermore, seed proteins of biofortified lines efficiently reduced the downy mildew disease incidence in greenhouse screenings by seed treatments of susceptible pearl millet lines ICMP 451 (0.6–36% against Sg 409; 32–61% against Sg 576) and 7042R (14–80% against Sg 445). The results of this study will provide insight into the biochemical basis of resistance in pearl millet against foliar blast and downy mildew diseases, and to exploit novel strategies for breeding for disease resistance.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Hari Sudini, Virology; Dr. S. Gopalakrishnan, Biocontrol, Dr. Jagadish Jaba, Entomology, ICRISAT for extending their lab facilities. We also thank Mr. Srinivas, Mr. Suraj, Ms. Mangala, Mr. Harshad Shivade, and Mr. Lalith Kannan, ICRISAT for extending their help in the execution of experiments. We also thank Mr. P. Jaganmohan Rao for helping in greenhouse screenings.

Funding

This research was supported by Grants to MS (PI) and MG (mentor) from the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology (DST), India [PDF/2017/002375, date 6.10.2017].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, Hyderabad, 502324, India

    Marri Swathi, Nimmala Naresh, Mahalingam Govindaraj & Rajan Sharma

  2. Department of Plant Sciences, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, 500046, India

    Tirupaati Swaroopa Rani

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  1. Marri Swathi
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  2. Nimmala Naresh
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  4. Mahalingam Govindaraj
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Correspondence to Mahalingam Govindaraj or Rajan Sharma.

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11738_2021_3208_MOESM2_ESM.pptx

Supplementary file2 Antifungal representation of pearl millet seed proteins against M. grisea (Pg 138). The radial growth inhibition of fungal zones and respective growth curves in control (OMA without seed proteins) as well as test samples are illustrated. (PPTX 204 KB)

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Swathi, M., Naresh, N., Rani, T.S. et al. Efficacy of seed defense proteins in biofortified pearl millet lines against blast and downy mildew. Acta Physiol Plant 43, 42 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-021-03208-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-021-03208-2

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