Copy Number Variation of Multiple Genes at Rhg1 Mediates Nematode Resistance in Soybean

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 338; no. 6111; pp. 1206 - 1209
• Main Authors: Cook, David E., Lee, Tong Geon, Guo, Xiaoli, Melito, Sara, Wang, Kai, Bayless, Adam M., Wang, Jianping, Hughes, Teresa J., Willis, David K., Clemente, Thomas E., Diers, Brian W., Jiang, Jiming, Hudson, Matthew E., Bent, Andrew F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 30.11.2012; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Alleles; Amino Acid Sequence; Amino acids; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Control; Cysts; DNA; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Dosage; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genes; Genetic Loci; Genetic Variation; Genetics and breeding of economic plants; Genomes; Genomics; Glycine max - genetics; Glycine max - parasitology; Haplotypes; Male; Molecular Sequence Data; Nematoda; Nematodes; Pathogens; Pest animals; Pest resistance; Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection; Plant diseases; Plant Diseases - genetics; Plant Diseases - parasitology; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant resistance; Plant Roots - genetics; Plant Roots - parasitology; Plants; Protein Structure, Tertiary - genetics; Proteins; Protozoa. Invertebrates; Segments; Soluble N-Ethylmaleimide-Sensitive Factor Attachment Proteins - genetics; Soybeans; Tylenchoidea; Varietal selection. Specialized plant breeding, plant breeding aims; Heteroderidae; Copy number; Injury; Glycine max; Protein; Transport process; Resistance; Grain legume; Haploidy; Gene silencing; Allele; Heterodera glycines; Pest; Leguminosae; Gene; Dicotyledones; Aminoacid; Angiospermae; Helmintha; Nemathelminthia; Spermatophyta; Invertebrata; Nematoda
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1228746

The rhg1-b allele of soybean is widely used for resistance against soybean cyst nematode (SCN), the most economically damaging pathogen of soybeans in the United States. Gene silencing showed that genes in a 31-kilobase segment at rhg1-b, encoding an amino add transporter, an α-SNAP protein, and a WI12 (wound-inducible domain) protein, each contribute to resistance. There is one copy of the 31-kilobase segment per haploid genome in susceptible varieties, but 10 tandem copies are present in an rhg1-b haplotype. Overexpression of the individual genes in roots was ineffective, but overexpression of the genes together conferred enhanced SCN resistance. Hence, SCN resistance mediated by the soybean quantitative trait locus Rhg1 is conferred by copy number variation that increases the expression of a set of dissimilar genes in a repeated multigene segment.