Overexpression of Nepenthesin HvNEP-1 in Barley Endosperm Reduces Fusarium Head Blight and Mycotoxin Accumulation

Zelalem Eshetu Bekalu,Inge S Fomsgaard,Claus Krogh Madsen,Giuseppe Dionisio,Henrik Brinch-Pedersen,Inger Bæksted Holme,Lise Nistrup Jørgensen

doi:10.3390/agronomy10020203

Zelalem Eshetu Bekalu, Inge S Fomsgaard + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10020203

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Journal: Agronomy	Publication Date: Feb 1, 2020
Citations: 12	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Aarhus University

Abstract

Fusarium head blight (FHB) causes substantial losses of yield and quality in grains, both in the field and in post-harvest storage. To date, adequate natural genetic resistance is not available for the control of FHB. This study reports the cloning and overexpression of a barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) antifungal gene, nepenthesin 1 (HvNEP-1), in the endosperm of barley grains. Transgenic barley lines overexpressing HvNEP-1 substantially reduced FHB severity and disease progression after inoculation with Fusarium graminearum or Fusarium culmorum. The transgenic barley also showed reduced accumulation of the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) in grain, far below the minimum value allowable for food. Semi-field evaluation of four HvNEP-1 transgenic lines revealed substantial reduction of FHB severity and progression as compared with the control H. vulgare cultivar Golden promise (GP) plants. Our study demonstrated the utility of HvNEP-1 for the control of FHB in barley, and possibly other grains such as wheat and maize.

Highlights

Fungal pathogens cause considerable loss of yield and quality in economically important crops.Fusarium head blight (FHB) or scab is one of the major fungal diseases of the Triticeae family in temperate and warm, humid regions of the world [1]
Our findings indicate that HvNEP-1 is an antifungal gene that can be used to control FHB in barley, and possibly other cereals
Immature barley embryos were transformed with the construct using the Agrobacterium strain AGL0

Summary

Introduction

Fungal pathogens cause considerable loss of yield and quality in economically important crops. Fusarium head blight (FHB) or scab is one of the major fungal diseases of the Triticeae family in temperate and warm, humid regions of the world [1]. FHB is caused by several Fusarium species, but Fusarium graminearum and Fusarium culmorum are seen as two of the most economically relevant species [1,2,3]. In the 1990s, an FHB epidemic caused an estimated loss of 2.7 billion USD in the US alone [4]. In 2010, a report on the occurrence of FHB in the US indicated that the disease was on the decline in most states. The overall impact of the disease in the state of Kansas was valued at 13 million USD

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