title: A maize wall-associated kinase confers quantitative resistance to head smut.
abstract: Head smut is a systemic disease in maize caused by the soil-borne fungus Sporisorium reilianum that poses a grave threat to maize production worldwide. A major head smut quantitative resistance locus, qHSR1, has been detected on maize chromosome bin2.09. Here we report the map-based cloning of qHSR1 and the molecular mechanism of qHSR1-mediated resistance. Sequential fine mapping and transgenic complementation demonstrated that ZmWAK is the gene within qHSR1 conferring quantitative resistance to maize head smut. ZmWAK spans the plasma membrane, potentially serving as a receptor-like kinase to perceive and transduce extracellular signals. ZmWAK was highly expressed in the mesocotyl of seedlings where it arrested biotrophic growth of the endophytic S. reilianum. Impaired expression in the mesocotyl compromised ZmWAK-mediated resistance. Deletion of the ZmWAK locus appears to have occurred after domestication and spread among maize germplasm, and the ZmWAK kinase domain underwent functional constraints during maize evolution.
authors.affiliation: National Maize Improvement Centre of China, China Agricultural University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Weiliang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zuo
authors.affiliation: National Maize Improvement Centre of China, China Agricultural University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.identifier: 000000025445779X
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.affiliation: National Maize Improvement Centre of China, China Agricultural University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: National Maize Improvement Centre of China, China Agricultural University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jianrong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: Maize Research Institute, Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Gongzhuling, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Guoqing
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: DuPont Agricultural Biotechnology, Wilmington, Delaware, USA.
authors.forename: Bailin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Maize Research Institute, Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Gongzhuling, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yuexian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.affiliation: National Maize Improvement Centre of China, China Agricultural University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Boqi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Haijun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: DuPont Agricultural Biotechnology, Wilmington, Delaware, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Fengler
authors.affiliation: National Maize Improvement Centre of China, China Agricultural University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: National Maize Improvement Centre of China, China Agricultural University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xianrong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: National Maize Improvement Centre of China, China Agricultural University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yongsheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: National Maize Improvement Centre of China, China Agricultural University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jinsheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jianbing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: National Maize Improvement Centre of China, China Agricultural University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Mingliang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D001487:Basidiomycota / Q000502:physiology*; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D060467:Disease Resistance / Q000235:genetics*; D058503:Mesophyll Cells; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009928:Organ Specificity; D009997:Osmotic Pressure; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D003313:Zea mays / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D011494:Protein Kinases