title: Evolutionary conserved function of barley and Arabidopsis 3-KETOACYL-CoA SYNTHASES in providing wax signals for germination of powdery mildew fungi.
abstract: For plant pathogenic fungi, such as powdery mildews, that survive only on a limited number of host plant species, it is a matter of vital importance that their spores sense that they landed on the right spot to initiate germination as quickly as possible. We investigated a barley (Hordeum vulgare) mutant with reduced epicuticular leaf waxes on which spores of adapted and nonadapted powdery mildew fungi showed reduced germination. The barley gene responsible for the mutant wax phenotype was cloned in a forward genetic screen and identified to encode a 3-KETOACYL-CoA SYNTHASE (HvKCS6), a protein participating in fatty acid elongation and required for synthesis of epicuticular waxes. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis revealed that the mutant has significantly fewer aliphatic wax constituents with a chain length above C-24. Complementation of the mutant restored wild-type wax and overcame germination penalty, indicating that wax constituents less present on the mutant are a crucial clue for spore germination. Investigation of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) transgenic plants with sense silencing of Arabidopsis REQUIRED FOR CUTICULAR WAX PRODUCTION1, the HvKCS6 ortholog, revealed the same germination phenotype against adapted and nonadapted powdery mildew fungi. Our findings hint to an evolutionary conserved mechanism for sensing of plant surfaces among distantly related powdery mildews that is based on KCS6-derived wax components. Perception of such a signal must have been evolved before the monocot-dicot split took place approximately 150 million years ago.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology, Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen University, D-52056 Aachen, Germany (D.W., M.J., S.U., I.J., U.S.);Institute of Biosciences and Geosciences: Plant Sciences, Juelich Plant Phenotyping Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Juelich, Germany (M.J.);Ecophysiology of Plants, Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany (R.B.F., L.S.);Plant Reproductive Biology, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, 06466 Stadt Seeland/OT Gatersleben, Germany (G.H., J.K.);Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Chair of Plant Breeding, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany (W.W., K.P.); Cereals Biotechnology,KWS LOCHOW GMBH, 37574 Einbeck, Germany (V.K.); andFormulation Technology, Bayer CropScience AG, 40789 Manheim, Germany (R.P.).
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Weidenbach
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology, Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen University, D-52056 Aachen, Germany (D.W., M.J., S.U., I.J., U.S.);Institute of Biosciences and Geosciences: Plant Sciences, Juelich Plant Phenotyping Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Juelich, Germany (M.J.);Ecophysiology of Plants, Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany (R.B.F., L.S.);Plant Reproductive Biology, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, 06466 Stadt Seeland/OT Gatersleben, Germany (G.H., J.K.);Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Chair of Plant Breeding, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany (W.W., K.P.); Cereals Biotechnology,KWS LOCHOW GMBH, 37574 Einbeck, Germany (V.K.); andFormulation Technology, Bayer CropScience AG, 40789 Manheim, Germany (R.P.).
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology, Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen University, D-52056 Aachen, Germany (D.W., M.J., S.U., I.J., U.S.);Institute of Biosciences and Geosciences: Plant Sciences, Juelich Plant Phenotyping Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Juelich, Germany (M.J.);Ecophysiology of Plants, Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany (R.B.F., L.S.);Plant Reproductive Biology, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, 06466 Stadt Seeland/OT Gatersleben, Germany (G.H., J.K.);Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Chair of Plant Breeding, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany (W.W., K.P.); Cereals Biotechnology,KWS LOCHOW GMBH, 37574 Einbeck, Germany (V.K.); andFormulation Technology, Bayer CropScience AG, 40789 Manheim, Germany (R.P.).
authors.forename: Rochus B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Franke
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology, Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen University, D-52056 Aachen, Germany (D.W., M.J., S.U., I.J., U.S.);Institute of Biosciences and Geosciences: Plant Sciences, Juelich Plant Phenotyping Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Juelich, Germany (M.J.);Ecophysiology of Plants, Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany (R.B.F., L.S.);Plant Reproductive Biology, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, 06466 Stadt Seeland/OT Gatersleben, Germany (G.H., J.K.);Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Chair of Plant Breeding, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany (W.W., K.P.); Cereals Biotechnology,KWS LOCHOW GMBH, 37574 Einbeck, Germany (V.K.); andFormulation Technology, Bayer CropScience AG, 40789 Manheim, Germany (R.P.).
authors.forename: Goetz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hensel
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology, Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen University, D-52056 Aachen, Germany (D.W., M.J., S.U., I.J., U.S.);Institute of Biosciences and Geosciences: Plant Sciences, Juelich Plant Phenotyping Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Juelich, Germany (M.J.);Ecophysiology of Plants, Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany (R.B.F., L.S.);Plant Reproductive Biology, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, 06466 Stadt Seeland/OT Gatersleben, Germany (G.H., J.K.);Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Chair of Plant Breeding, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany (W.W., K.P.); Cereals Biotechnology,KWS LOCHOW GMBH, 37574 Einbeck, Germany (V.K.); andFormulation Technology, Bayer CropScience AG, 40789 Manheim, Germany (R.P.).
authors.forename: Wiebke
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Weissgerber
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology, Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen University, D-52056 Aachen, Germany (D.W., M.J., S.U., I.J., U.S.);Institute of Biosciences and Geosciences: Plant Sciences, Juelich Plant Phenotyping Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Juelich, Germany (M.J.);Ecophysiology of Plants, Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany (R.B.F., L.S.);Plant Reproductive Biology, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, 06466 Stadt Seeland/OT Gatersleben, Germany (G.H., J.K.);Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Chair of Plant Breeding, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany (W.W., K.P.); Cereals Biotechnology,KWS LOCHOW GMBH, 37574 Einbeck, Germany (V.K.); andFormulation Technology, Bayer CropScience AG, 40789 Manheim, Germany (R.P.).
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ulferts
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology, Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen University, D-52056 Aachen, Germany (D.W., M.J., S.U., I.J., U.S.);Institute of Biosciences and Geosciences: Plant Sciences, Juelich Plant Phenotyping Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Juelich, Germany (M.J.);Ecophysiology of Plants, Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany (R.B.F., L.S.);Plant Reproductive Biology, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, 06466 Stadt Seeland/OT Gatersleben, Germany (G.H., J.K.);Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Chair of Plant Breeding, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany (W.W., K.P.); Cereals Biotechnology,KWS LOCHOW GMBH, 37574 Einbeck, Germany (V.K.); andFormulation Technology, Bayer CropScience AG, 40789 Manheim, Germany (R.P.).
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology, Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen University, D-52056 Aachen, Germany (D.W., M.J., S.U., I.J., U.S.);Institute of Biosciences and Geosciences: Plant Sciences, Juelich Plant Phenotyping Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Juelich, Germany (M.J.);Ecophysiology of Plants, Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany (R.B.F., L.S.);Plant Reproductive Biology, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, 06466 Stadt Seeland/OT Gatersleben, Germany (G.H., J.K.);Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Chair of Plant Breeding, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany (W.W., K.P.); Cereals Biotechnology,KWS LOCHOW GMBH, 37574 Einbeck, Germany (V.K.); andFormulation Technology, Bayer CropScience AG, 40789 Manheim, Germany (R.P.).
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schreiber
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology, Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen University, D-52056 Aachen, Germany (D.W., M.J., S.U., I.J., U.S.);Institute of Biosciences and Geosciences: Plant Sciences, Juelich Plant Phenotyping Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Juelich, Germany (M.J.);Ecophysiology of Plants, Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany (R.B.F., L.S.);Plant Reproductive Biology, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, 06466 Stadt Seeland/OT Gatersleben, Germany (G.H., J.K.);Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Chair of Plant Breeding, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany (W.W., K.P.); Cereals Biotechnology,KWS LOCHOW GMBH, 37574 Einbeck, Germany (V.K.); andFormulation Technology, Bayer CropScience AG, 40789 Manheim, Germany (R.P.).
authors.forename: Viktor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Korzun
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology, Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen University, D-52056 Aachen, Germany (D.W., M.J., S.U., I.J., U.S.);Institute of Biosciences and Geosciences: Plant Sciences, Juelich Plant Phenotyping Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Juelich, Germany (M.J.);Ecophysiology of Plants, Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany (R.B.F., L.S.);Plant Reproductive Biology, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, 06466 Stadt Seeland/OT Gatersleben, Germany (G.H., J.K.);Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Chair of Plant Breeding, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany (W.W., K.P.); Cereals Biotechnology,KWS LOCHOW GMBH, 37574 Einbeck, Germany (V.K.); andFormulation Technology, Bayer CropScience AG, 40789 Manheim, Germany (R.P.).
authors.forename: Rolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pontzen
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology, Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen University, D-52056 Aachen, Germany (D.W., M.J., S.U., I.J., U.S.);Institute of Biosciences and Geosciences: Plant Sciences, Juelich Plant Phenotyping Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Juelich, Germany (M.J.);Ecophysiology of Plants, Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany (R.B.F., L.S.);Plant Reproductive Biology, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, 06466 Stadt Seeland/OT Gatersleben, Germany (G.H., J.K.);Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Chair of Plant Breeding, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany (W.W., K.P.); Cereals Biotechnology,KWS LOCHOW GMBH, 37574 Einbeck, Germany (V.K.); andFormulation Technology, Bayer CropScience AG, 40789 Manheim, Germany (R.P.).
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kumlehn
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology, Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen University, D-52056 Aachen, Germany (D.W., M.J., S.U., I.J., U.S.);Institute of Biosciences and Geosciences: Plant Sciences, Juelich Plant Phenotyping Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Juelich, Germany (M.J.);Ecophysiology of Plants, Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany (R.B.F., L.S.);Plant Reproductive Biology, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, 06466 Stadt Seeland/OT Gatersleben, Germany (G.H., J.K.);Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Chair of Plant Breeding, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany (W.W., K.P.); Cereals Biotechnology,KWS LOCHOW GMBH, 37574 Einbeck, Germany (V.K.); andFormulation Technology, Bayer CropScience AG, 40789 Manheim, Germany (R.P.).
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pillen
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology, Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen University, D-52056 Aachen, Germany (D.W., M.J., S.U., I.J., U.S.);Institute of Biosciences and Geosciences: Plant Sciences, Juelich Plant Phenotyping Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Juelich, Germany (M.J.);Ecophysiology of Plants, Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany (R.B.F., L.S.);Plant Reproductive Biology, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, 06466 Stadt Seeland/OT Gatersleben, Germany (G.H., J.K.);Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Chair of Plant Breeding, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany (W.W., K.P.); Cereals Biotechnology,KWS LOCHOW GMBH, 37574 Einbeck, Germany (V.K.); andFormulation Technology, Bayer CropScience AG, 40789 Manheim, Germany (R.P.) schaffrath@bio3.rwth-aachen.de.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schaffrath
mesh_terms: D015099:3-Oxoacyl-(Acyl-Carrier-Protein) Synthase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000217:Acyltransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001203:Ascomycota / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology; D005075:Biological Evolution; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D001467:Hordeum / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D009154:Mutation; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000254:growth & development; D014885:Waxes / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014885:Waxes; D000217:Acyltransferases; C120018:CUT1 protein, Arabidopsis; D015099:3-Oxoacyl-(Acyl-Carrier-Protein) Synthase; C585927:3-ketoacyl-CoA synthase, Arabidopsis