Retrotransposon and gene activation in wheat in response to mycotoxigenic and non-mycotoxigenic-associated Fusarium stress

Despite inhibition of protein synthesis being its mode of action, the trichothecene mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) induced accumulation of transcripts encoding translation elongation factor 1 alpha (EF-1 alpha), class III plant peroxidase (POX), structure specific recognition protein, basic leucine zipper protein transcription factor (bZIP), retrotransposon-like homologs and genes of unknown function in the roots of wheat cultivars CM82036 and Remus. Fusarium head blight (FHB) studies using Fusarium graminearum and its trichothecene-minus (Tri5(-)) mutant derivative and adult plant DON tests showed that these transcripts were responsive to both mycotoxigenic- and non-mycotoxigenic-associated Fusarium stress. In tests using the parents 'CyCM82036', 'Remus' and 14 double-haploid progeny that segregated for quantitative trait locus (QTL) Fhb1 on chromosome 3BS (syn. Qfhs.ndsu-3BS) (from 'CyCM82036' that confers DON tolerance), bZIP expression was significantly more DON-up-regulated in lines that inherited this QTL. Basal accumulation of the bZIP transcript in spikelets treated with Tween20 (control), DON and in DON-relative to Tween20-treated spikelets was negatively correlated with DON-induced bleaching above (but not below) the treated spikelets (AUDPC(DON)) (r = -0.41, -0.75 and -0.72, respectively; P <= 0.010). bZIP-specific PCR analysis of 'CyChinese spring' and its 3BS deletion derivatives indicated that bZIP is located in chromosomal region(s) other than 3BS. These results, and the fact that a homologous cold-regulated wheat bZIP (wLIP19) maps to group 1 chromosomes suggests that wheat bZIP may participate in defence response cascades associated with Fhb1 and that there is a cross-talk between biotic and abiotic stress signalling pathways.