Abstract
The white collar-1 (wc-1) gene encodes an important light-responsive protein (wc-1) that maintains circadian clocks and controls numerous light-dependent reactions including sporulation in ascomycete fungi. The structure and expression of the wc-1 gene in wheat-biotype Phaeosphaeria nodorum (PN-w) was studied. It was shown that the full-size (3,353 bp in length) wc-1 gene in PN-w contained 4 introns in which introns 1 and 2 were flanked by GC-AG splice borders and were spliced constitutively. However, introns 3 and 4 of the wc-1 gene were alternatively spliced. As the result of alternative splicing (AS), six transcript variants were identified, encoding different lengths of deduced polypeptides (from 1,044 to 1,065aa). Ratios of the wc-1 gene transcript variants in the RNA population were the same in the sporulated and non-sporulated PN-w isolate Sn37-1 and the sporulated PN-w isolate S-79-1, grown under light/dark conditions. The AS of the wc-1 gene may control various light-dependent reactions in PN-w, which leads to diverse morphological, physiological and pathological characters for pathogen infection and spread. Based on the nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences, the wc-1 gene in cereal Phaeosphaeria pathogens was diverse. It appeared that the deduced wc-1 polypeptide sequences of P. avenaria f. sp. avenaria (Paa), P. avenaria f. sp. triticea (Pat1 and Pat3) and barley biotype P. nodorum (PN-b) were more closely related than PN-w and Phaeosphaeeria sp. (P-rye) from Poland. Based on the wc-1 deduced polypeptide sequences, P. avenaria f. sp. triticea (Pat2) from foxtail barley (Hordeum jubatum L.) was evolutionary well separated from the other cereal Phaeosphaeria pathogens.
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Acknowledgements
The corresponding author (PPU) is indebted to Barry M. Cunfer, Emeritus Professor of the University of Georgia and Gregory E. Shaner, Emeritus Professor of Purdue University, for their career-long inspiration, guidance and collaboration on research in cereal Stagonospora diseases. We also thank Rosemarie Hammond of the USDA-ARS for reviewing the manuscript. This research was supported in part by Department of International Affairs, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, Taiwan under grant numbers 97AS-4.1.2-IC-I1(6) and 98AS-4.1.1-IC-I1(1), by the Ministry of Education, Taiwan, under the ATU plan, and by National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan.
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Ericka Yen-Hsin Chiu and Ying-Hong Lin contributed equally.
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Chiu, E.YH., Lin, YH., Wu, W. et al. Alternative splicing and genetic diversity of the white collar-1 (wc-1) gene in cereal Phaeosphaeria pathogens. Eur J Plant Pathol 127, 351–363 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-010-9602-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-010-9602-4