Development of Molecular Markers Linked to Powdery Mildew Resistance Gene Pm4b by Combining SNP Discovery from Transcriptome Sequencing Data with Bulked Segregant Analysis (BSR-Seq) in Wheat

Peipei Wu, Jingzhong Xie, Jinghuang Hu, Dan Qiu, Zhiyong Liu, Jingting Li, Miaomiao Li, Hongjun Zhang, Li Yang, Hongwei Liu, Yang Zhou, Zhongjun Zhang, Hongjie Li

Powdery mildew resistance genePm4b, originating fromTriticum persicum, is effective against the prevalentBlumeria graminisf. sp.tritici(Bgt) isolates from certain regions of wheat production in China. The lack of tightly linked molecular markers with the target gene prevents the precise identification ofPm4bduring the application of molecular marker-assisted selection (MAS). The strategy that combines the RNA-Seq technique and the bulked segregant analysis (BSR-Seq) was applied in an F2:3mapping population (237 families) derived from a pair of isogenic lines VPM1/7∗Bainong 3217 F4(carryingPm4b) and Bainong 3217 to develop more closely linked molecular markers. RNA-Seq analysis of the two phenotypically contrasting RNA bulks prepared from the representative F2:3families generated 20,745,939 and 25,867,480 high-quality read pairs, and 82.8 and 80.2% of them were uniquely mapped to the wheat whole genome draft assembly for the resistant and susceptible RNA bulks, respectively. Variant calling identified 283,866 raw single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and InDels between the two bulks. The SNPs that were closely associated with the powdery mildew resistance were concentrated on chromosome 2AL. Among the 84 variants that were potentially associated with the disease resistance trait, 46 variants were enriched in an about 25 Mb region at the distal end of chromosome arm 2AL. FourPm4b-linked SNP markers were developed from these variants. Based on the sequences of Chinese Spring where these polymorphic SNPs were located, 98 SSR primer pairs were designed to develop distal markers flanking thePm4bgene. Three SSR markers,Xics13,Xics43, andXics76, were incorporated in the new genetic linkage map, which locatedPm4bin a 3.0 cM genetic interval spanning a 6.7 Mb physical genomic region. This region had a collinear relationship withBrachypodium distachyonchromosome 5, rice chromosome 4, and sorghum chromosome 6. Seven genes associated with disease resistance were predicted in this collinear genomic region, which included C2 domain protein, peroxidase activity protein, protein kinases of PKc_like super family, Mlo family protein, and catalytic domain of the serine/threonine kinases (STKc_IRAK like super family). The markers developed in the present study facilitate identification ofPm4bduring its MAS practice.