Rare Pyrenophora teres Hybridization Events Revealed by Development of Sequence-Specific PCR Markers

• Published in: Phytopathology Vol. 107; no. 7; pp. 878 - 884
• Main Authors: Poudel, Barsha, Ellwood, Simon R., Testa, Alison C., McLean, Mark, Sutherland, Mark W., Martin, Anke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.07.2017
• Subjects: amplified fragment length polymorphism; Ascomycota - genetics; Australia; barley; DNA; Genetic Markers; genome; grasses; Hordeum - microbiology; Hordeum vulgare; host plants; hybridization; Hybridization, Genetic; hybrids; net blotch; phenotype; Plant Diseases - microbiology; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Pyrenophora teres; South Africa
• ISSN: 0031-949X; 1943-7684
• DOI: 10.1094/PHYTO-11-16-0396-R

Pyrenophora teres f. teres and P. teres f. maculata cause net form and spot form, respectively, of net blotch on barley (Hordeum vulgare). The two forms reproduce sexually, producing hybrids with genetic and pathogenic variability. Phenotypic identification of hybrids is challenging because lesions induced by hybrids on host plants resemble lesions induced by either P. teres f. teres or P. teres f. maculata. In this study, 12 sequence-specific polymerase chain reaction markers were developed based on expressed regions spread across the genome. The primers were validated using 210 P. teres isolates, 2 putative field hybrids (WAC10721 and SNB172), 50 laboratory-produced hybrids, and 7 isolates collected from barley grass (H. leporinum). The sequence-specific markers confirmed isolate WAC10721 as a hybrid. Only four P. teres f. teres markers amplified on DNA of barley grass isolates. Amplified fragment length polymorphism markers suggested that P. teres barley grass isolates are genetically different from P. teres barley isolates and that the second putative hybrid (SNB172) is a barley grass isolate. We developed a suite of markers which clearly distinguish the two forms of P. teres and enable unambiguous identification of hybrids.