Open AccessGeneration of a ToxA knockout strain of the wheat tan spot pathogen P yrenophora tritici‐repentis
Author(s) -
Moffat Caroline S.,
See Pao Theen,
Oliver Richard P.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
molecular plant pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.945
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1364-3703
pISSN - 1464-6722
DOI - 10.1111/mpp.12154
Subject(s) - biology , pyrenophora , effector , gene knockout , gene , pathogen , genotype , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology
Summary The necrotrophic fungal pathogen P yrenophora tritici‐repentis causes tan spot, a major disease of wheat, throughout the world. The proteinaceous effector ToxA is responsible for foliar necrosis on ToxA ‐sensitive wheat genotypes. The single copy ToxA gene was deleted from a wild‐type race 1 P . tritici‐repentis isolate via homologous recombination of a knockout construct. Expression of the ToxA transcript was found to be absent in transformants ( toxa ), as was ToxA protein production in fungal culture filtrates. Plant bioassays were conducted to test transformant pathogenicity. The toxa strains were unable to induce necrosis on ToxA ‐sensitive wheat genotypes. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a targeted gene knockout in P . tritici‐repentis . The ability to undertake gene deletions will facilitate the characterization of other pathogenicity effectors of this economically significant necrotroph.