Gene expression analysis of related wheat lines with contrasting levels of head blight resistance after Fusarium graminearum inoculation

Molecular mapping led to the identification of two major Fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance QTL, Fhb1 and Qfhs.ifa-5A. The actual function of the resistance genes is still unknown. The resistant line CM82036, the susceptible line Remus and six closely related lines were analyzed for differential gene expression after Fusarium attack. The related lines show contrasting levels of FHB resistance due to the possession of Fhb1 and Qfhs.ifa-5A. At anthesis plants were challenged by Fusarium graminearum or water and at six time points after inoculation gene expression of specific wheat floral tissue was analyzed by cDNA-AFLPs and the Affymetrix Wheat GeneChip. 0.44% of the analyzed gene tags by cDNA-AFLPs displayed differential expressions after Fusarium attack depending on the genotype. Five of the gene tags were associated with the FHB resistance level of the genotypes and the possession of resistance alleles at Fhb1 and Qfhs.ifa-5A. These gene tags show homologies to a UDP-glucosyltransferase, wheat phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, DnaJ-like protein, pathogenesis-related family protein and a rice cDNA clone with unknown function. A thorough comparative analysis with the data gained by the Wheat GeneChip experiments is in progress.