title: Brachypodium distachyonexhibits compatible interactions withOculimaculaspp. andRamularia collo-cygni, providing the first pathosystem model to study eyespot and ramularia leaf spot diseases.
abstract: Brachypodium distachyon(Bd) has established itself as an essential tool for comparative genomic studies in cereals and increasing attention is being paid to its potential as a model pathosystem. Eyespot and ramularia leaf spot (RLS) are important diseases of wheat, barley and other small-grain cereals for which very little is known about the mechanisms of host resistance despite urgent requirements for plant breeders to develop resistant varieties. This work aimed to test the compatibility of interaction of two Bd accessions with the cereal pathogensOculimaculaspp. andRamularia collo-cygni, the causal agents of eyespot and RLS diseases, respectively. Results showed that both Bd accessions developed symptoms similar to those on the natural host for all pathogen species tested. Microscopy images demonstrated thatR. collo-cygniproduced secondary conidia and bothOculimaculaspp. formed characteristic infection structures on successive tissue layers. Visual disease assessment revealed that quantitative differences in disease severity exist between the two Bd accessions. The results presented here provide the first evidence that Bd is compatible with the main causal agents of eyespot and RLS diseases, and suggest that future functional genetic studies can be undertaken to investigate the mechanisms of eyespot and RLS disease resistance using Bd.
authors.affiliation: Department of Crop Genetics, John Innes Centre Colney Lane, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Peraldi
authors.affiliation: Department of Crop Genetics, John Innes Centre Colney Lane, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK.
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Griffe
authors.affiliation: Department of Crop Genetics, John Innes Centre Colney Lane, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Burt
authors.affiliation: Department of Crop Genetics, John Innes Centre Colney Lane, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK.
authors.forename: G R D
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: McGrann
authors.affiliation: Department of Crop Genetics, John Innes Centre Colney Lane, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nicholson
keywords: Oculimacula acuformis; Oculimacula yallundae; plant–pathogen interaction