Abstract
Leaf rust (LR) and Fusarium head blight (FHB) caused by Puccinia triticina and Fusarium graminearum, respectively, are among the most damaging fungal diseases challenging wheat production worldwide. Genetic resistance in combination with fungicide application has been the most widely employed approach to combat these fungal pathogens. Alternative approaches that could augment current practices are needed for the control of these devastating pathogens. To that end, we have recently shown that the extracellular expression of antifungal defensin MtDEF4.2 from Medicago truncatula confers resistance to LR. Additionally, we show that expression of this defensin also provides Type II resistance to FHB under controlled growth chamber conditions. These findings have practical applications for control of these important fungal diseases in wheat. Here, we provide details on conducting LR and FHB bioassays of transgenic wheat lines in the growth chamber.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by grants from National Science Foundation and Monsanto Company to D.S.
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Kaur, J., Shah, D., Fellers, J. (2017). Phenotypic Characterization of Transgenic Wheat Lines Against Fungal Pathogens Puccinia triticina and Fusarium graminearum . In: Bhalla, P., Singh, M. (eds) Wheat Biotechnology. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1679. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7337-8_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7337-8_17
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Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY
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Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-7337-8
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