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. 2003 Jun;164(2):655–664. doi: 10.1093/genetics/164.2.655

Map-based cloning of leaf rust resistance gene Lr21 from the large and polyploid genome of bread wheat.

Li Huang 1, Steven A Brooks 1, Wanlong Li 1, John P Fellers 1, Harold N Trick 1, Bikram S Gill 1
PMCID: PMC1462593  PMID: 12807786

Abstract

We report the map-based cloning of the leaf rust resistance gene Lr21, previously mapped to a gene-rich region at the distal end of chromosome arm 1DS of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Molecular cloning of Lr21 was facilitated by diploid/polyploid shuttle mapping strategy. Cloning of Lr21 was confirmed by genetic transformation and by a stably inherited resistance phenotype in transgenic plants. Lr21 spans 4318 bp and encodes a 1080-amino-acid protein containing a conserved nucleotide-binding site (NBS) domain, 13 imperfect leucine-rich repeats (LRRs), and a unique 151-amino-acid sequence missing from known NBS-LRR proteins at the N terminus. Fine-structure genetic analysis at the Lr21 locus detected a noncrossover (recombination without exchange of flanking markers) within a 1415-bp region resulting from either a gene conversion tract of at least 191 bp or a double crossover. The successful map-based cloning approach as demonstrated here now opens the door for cloning of many crop-specific agronomic traits located in the gene-rich regions of bread wheat.

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Selected References

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