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Over-expression of the cell death regulator BAX inhibitor-1 in barley confers reduced or enhanced susceptibility to distinct fungal pathogens

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Abstract

BAX inhibitor-1 (BI-1) is a conserved cell death regulator protein that inhibits mammalian BAX-induced cell death in yeast, animals and plants. Additionally, HvBI-1 suppresses defense responses and resistance to the powdery mildew fungus Blumeria graminis f.sp. hordei (Bgh) when over-expressed in single epidermal cells of barley. To test the potential of ectopic expression of BI-1 to influence fungal interactions with crop plants, we produced stable transgenic barley plants expressing a green fluorescing protein (GFP) fusion of HvBI-1 under control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter. GFP-HvBI-1 plants were fertile and did not display obvious developmental alterations when compared to wild type parents. GFP-HvBI-1 plants were more resistant to single cell death induced by ballistic delivery of a mammalian proapototic BAX expression construct and more susceptible to biotrophic Bgh. Microscopic observation of the interaction phenotype revealed that enhanced susceptibility, i.e. a higher degree of successful establishment of haustoria in epidermal cells, was associated with a reduced frequency of hypersensitive cell death reactions. In contrast, young seedlings of GFP-HvBI-1 barley were more resistant to Fusarium graminearum than wild type or azygous controls. Hence the effect of GFP-HvBI-1 on the outcome of a particular plant–fungus interaction appeared dependent on the lifestyle of the pathogen.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of Iran for the Ph.D. scholarship of V.B. (Home address: University of Agricultural and Natural Recourses, College of Agriculture, Department of Plant Protection, Sari, Iran).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Phytopathology and Applied Zoology, Justus Liebig University of Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32, 35392, Giessen, Germany

    Valiollah Babaeizad, Jafargholi Imani & Karl-Heinz Kogel

  2. Lehrstuhl für Phytopathologie, Technische Universität München, Am Hochanger 2, 85350, Freising, Germany

    Ruth Eichmann & Ralph Hückelhoven

Authors
  1. Valiollah Babaeizad
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  2. Jafargholi Imani
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  3. Karl-Heinz Kogel
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  4. Ruth Eichmann
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  5. Ralph Hückelhoven
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ralph Hückelhoven.

Additional information

Communicated by A. Graner.

V. Babaeizad and J. Imani contributed equally to this study.

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Babaeizad, V., Imani, J., Kogel, KH. et al. Over-expression of the cell death regulator BAX inhibitor-1 in barley confers reduced or enhanced susceptibility to distinct fungal pathogens. Theor Appl Genet 118, 455–463 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-008-0912-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-008-0912-2

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