Two complementary NLRs from wild emmer wheat confer powdery mildew resistance
Powdery mildew is a devastating disease that affects wheat yield and quality globally. Here, we identify a powdery mildew resistance locus MlIW39 from wild emmer wheat through map-based cloning, mutagenesis, and stable genetic transformation. Unlike many other cloned Pm genes, the MlIW39-mediated resistance is conferred by the combined effect of two complementary nucleotide-binding and leucine-rich repeat (NLR) genes, encoding a canonical coiled-coil (CC) type NLR protein (MlIW39-R1) and an atypical NLR protein (MlIW39-R2) with an unknown domain (CC-like), respectively. Overexpression of the NLR pair induces cell death in Nicotiana benthamiana, whereas MlIW39-R1 or MlIW39-R2 alone does not. The MlIW39-R1 and MlIW39-R2 proteins physically interact with each other. MlIW39-R1 and MlIW39-R2 likely originate independently and become neighborly located during evolution. Our findings shed light on the significance of NLR pairs in plant immunity and can facilitate wheat disease-resistance breeding using the developed MlIW39 introgression lines and functional marker.
Authors
- Susheng Song (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3173-9628)
- Wenxin Wei
- Zhaorong Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1815-648X)
- Weilong Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5199-1359)
- Y Bai
- Chaojie Xie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6955-3330)
- Houyang Kang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0561-5413)
- Xiaoming Xie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7925-4964)
- Jiatian Yang
- Tzion Fahima (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5555-0040)
- Muhammad Saqlain (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9524-0108)
- Baoyun Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6794-1150)
- Jin‐Ying Gou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7540-0354)
- Qixin Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3819-6892)
- Wei Xing Pan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2641-1759)
- Zuhuan Yang
- Jun Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7566-4317)
- Yinghui Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9271-4112)
- Weidong Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1724-0580)
- Qiu Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9513-9138)
- Nannan Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0561-0196)
- Xiaodong Xie
- Junna Sun
Institutions
- Tianjin Agricultural University (CN)
- Sichuan Agricultural University (CN)
- Institute of Crop Sciences (CN)
- China Agricultural University (CN)
- University of Haifa (IL)
- Capital Normal University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-10-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-64052-3
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Powdery Mildew Fungal Diseases
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 7.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- China Agricultural University
- Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin City
- National Key Research and Development Program of China