Plant Physiology Preview Published on July 14, 2006; 10.1104/pp.106.083824
OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE
Received May 18, 2006
Accepted July 8, 2006
The Multigene Family Encoding Germin-like Proteins of Barley. Regulation and Function in Basal Host Resistance
Grit Zimmermann , Helmut Bäumlein , Hans-Peter Mock , Axel Himmelbach , and Patrick Schweizer *
Leibniz-Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Corrensstrasse 3, D-06466 Gatersleben
* Corresponding author; email: schweiz{at}ipk-gatersleben.de.
Germin-like proteins (GLPs) have been shown to be encoded by multigene-families in several plant species, and a role of some subfamily members in defense against pathogen attack has been proposed based on gene-regulation studies and transgenic approaches. We studied the function of six GLP subfamilies of barley by selecting single mRNAs for gene-expression studies as well as overexpression and gene-silencing experiments in barley and Arabidopsis thaliana. Expression of all six subfamilies was high in very young seedlings including roots. The expression pattern gradually changed from developmental to conditional with increasing plant age whereby pathogen attack and exogenous H2O2 application were found to be the strongest signals for induction of several GLP subfamilies. Transcripts of four out of five GLP subfamilies that are expressed in shoots were predominately accumulating in the leaf epidermis. Transient overexpression of HvGER4 or HvGER5 as well as transient silencing by RNAi of HvGER3 or HvGER5 protected barley epidermal cells from attack by the appropriate powdery mildew fungus Blumeria graminis f.sp. hordei. Silencing of HvGER4 induced hypersusceptibility. Transient and stable expression of subfamily members revealed HvGER5 as a new extracellular superoxide dismutase, and protection by over-expression could be demonstrated to be dependent on superoxide-dismutase activity of the encoded protein. The data suggest a complex interplay of HvGER proteins in fine regulation of basal resistance against B.graminis.
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