AUTHOR=He Fuxin , Zhang Ruiming , Zhao Jiaxin , Qi Tuo , Kang Zhensheng , Guo Jun 

TITLE=Host-Induced Silencing of Fusarium graminearum Genes Enhances the Resistance of Brachypodium distachyon to Fusarium Head Blight

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2019.01362

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2019.01362

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Fusarium</italic> head blight (FHB) caused by <italic>Fusarium</italic> pathogens are devastating diseases worldwide. Host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) which involves host expression of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-generating constructs directed against genes in the pathogen has been a potential strategy for the ecological sound control of FHB. In this study, we constructed transgenic <italic>Brachypodium distachyon</italic> lines carrying RNA interference (RNAi) cassettes to target two essential protein kinase genes <italic>Fg00677</italic> and <italic>Fg08731</italic>, and cytochrome P450 lanosterol C14-α-demethylase (CYP51) encoding genes (<italic>CYP51A</italic>, <italic>CYP51B</italic>, and <italic>CYP51C</italic>) of <italic>Fusarium graminearum</italic>, respectively. Northern blotting confirmed the presence of short interfering RNAs (siRNA) derived from <italic>Fg00677</italic>, <italic>Fg08731</italic>, and <italic>CYP51</italic> in transgenic <italic>B. distachyon</italic> plants, and the transcript levels of the corresponding genes were down-regulated in the <italic>F. graminearum</italic> colonizing <italic>B. distachyon</italic> spikes. All the corresponding independent, <italic>Fg00677</italic>-RNAi, <italic>Fg08731</italic>-RNAi, and <italic>CYP51</italic>-RNAi transgenic T2 lines exhibited strong resistance to <italic>F. graminearum</italic>, suggesting that silencing molecules produced by transgenic plants inhibited the corresponding gene function by down-regulating its expression, thereby reducing pathogenicity. Our results indicate that <italic>Fg00677</italic> and <italic>Fg08731</italic> are effective targets for HIGS and can be applied to construct transgenic HIGS materials to enhance FHB resistance in wheat and other cereal crops.</p>