More than 50 leaf rust resistance ( Lr ) genes against the fungal pathogen Puccinia triticina have been identified in the wheat gene pool, and a large number of them have been extensively used in breeding. Of the 50 Lr genes, all are known only from their phenotype and/or map position except for Lr21 , which was cloned recently. For many years, the problems of molecular work in the large (1.6 × 10 ¹⁰ bp), highly repetitive (80%), and hexaploid bread wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) genome have hampered map-based cloning. Here, we report the isolation of the Lr gene Lr10 from hexaploid wheat by using a combination of subgenome map-based cloning and haplotype studies in the genus Triticum. Lr10 is a single-copy gene on chromosome 1AS. It encodes a CC-NBS-LRR type of protein with an N-terminal domain, which is under diversifying selection. When overexpressed in transgenic wheat plants, Lr10 confers enhanced resistance to leaf rust. Lr10 has similarities to RPM1 in Arabidopsis thaliana and to resistance gene analogs in rice and barley, but is not closely related to other wheat Lr genes based on Southern analysis. We conclude that map-based cloning of genes of agronomic importance in hexaploid wheat is now feasible, opening perspectives for molecular bread wheat improvement trough transgenic strategies and diagnostic allele detection.

Summary: We report here evidence of the role that the isoform of the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4G (eIF(iso)4G) plays in naturally occurring resistance in plant/virus interactions. A genetic and physical mapping approach was developed to isolate the Rymv1 locus controlling the high recessive resistance to Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) in the rice (Oryza sativa) variety Gigante. The locus was mapped to a 160‐kb interval containing a gene from the eIF(iso)4G family. The stable transformation of a resistant line with the cDNA of this gene, derived from a susceptible variety, resulted in the loss of resistance in transgenic plants. The allelic variability of this gene was analysed in three resistant and 17 susceptible varieties from different cultivated rice species or subspecies. Compared with susceptible varieties, resistant varieties present specific alleles, characterized by either amino acid substitutions or short amino‐acid deletions in the middle domain of the protein. The structure of this domain was modelled and showed that the substitutions were clustered on a small surface patch. This suggests that this domain may be involved in an interaction with the virus.

The adaptation of Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) to recessive resistance mediated by the rymv1-2 allele has been reported as a model to study the emergence and evolution of virulent variants. The resistance and virulence factors have been identified as eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF(iso)4G1 and viral genome–linked protein (VPg), respectively, but the molecular mechanisms involved in their interaction are still unknown. In this study, we demonstrated a direct interaction between RYMV VPg and the central domain of rice eIF(iso)4G1 both in vitro, using recombinant proteins, and in vivo, using a yeast two-hybrid assay. Insertion of the E309K mutation in eIF(iso)4G1, conferring resistance in planta, strongly diminished the interaction with avirulent VPg. The efficiency of the major virulence mutations at restoring the interaction with the resistance protein was assessed. Our results explain the prevalence of virulence mutations fixed during experimental evolution studies and are consistent with the respective viral RNA accumulation levels of avirulent and virulent isolates. Our results also explain the origin of the residual multiplication of wild-type isolates in rymv1-2–resistant plants and the role of genetic context in the poor adaptability of the S2/S3 strain. Finally, the strategies of RYMV and members of family Potyviridae to overcome recessive resistance were compared.

Three cultivars of Oryza sativa (IR64, Azucena, and Gigante) and four cultivars of O. glaberrima (Tog5681, Tog5673, CG14, and SG329) were evaluated for their resistance to two isolates of rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and symptomatology. Cultivars Tog5681 and Gigante were highly resistant, and no symptoms were observed when either virus isolate was inoculated at 10 or 20 days postgermination and assayed by ELISA at 7, 14, 22, 35, 50, or 64 days postinoculation. Azucena showed a partial resistance, whereas the other cultivars were susceptible. Symptom appearance was associated with increase in ELISA absorbance in the systemically infected leaves. The best discrimination among the cultivars occurred when the plants were inoculated at 10 days postgermination. Crosses were made between the highly resistant (Gigante and Tog5681) and the susceptible (IR64) cultivars to determine the genetic basis of resistance to RYMV. Evaluation of F1 hybrids and interspecific progenies, as well as the segregation of resistance in F2 and F3 lines of the IR64 × Gigante cross, provided results consistent with the presence of a single recessive resistance gene common to Tog5681 and Gigante.