Septoria tritici blotch resistance gene Stb15 encodes a lectin receptor-like kinase
Amber N. Hafeez, Laëtitia Chartrain, Cong Feng, Florence Cambon, Martha Clarke, Simon Griffiths, Şadiye Hayta, Mei Jiang, Beat Keller, Rachel Kirby, Markus C. Kolodziej, Oliver R. Powell, Mark A. Smedley, Burkhard Steuernagel, Wenfei Xian, Luzie U. Wingen, Shifeng Cheng, Cyrille Saintenac, Brande B. H. Wulff, James K. M. Brown
Abstract
Abstract Septoria tritici blotch (STB), caused by the Dothideomycete fungus Zymoseptoria tritici , is one of the most damaging diseases of bread wheat ( Triticum aestivum ) 1 and the target of costly fungicide applications 2 . In line with the fungus’s apoplastic lifestyle, STB resistance genes isolated to date encode receptor-like kinases (RLKs) including a wall-associated kinase ( Stb6 ) and a cysteine-rich kinase ( Stb16q ) 3,4 . Here we used genome-wide association studies on a diverse panel of 300 whole-genome shotgun-sequenced wheat landraces (WatSeq consortium 5 ) to identify a 99-kb region containing six candidates for the Stb15 resistance gene. Mutagenesis and transgenesis confirmed a gene encoding an intronless G-type lectin RLK as Stb15 . The characterization of Stb15 exemplifies the unexpected diversity of RLKs conferring Z. tritici resistance in wheat.