A Single-Nucleotide Mutation in a GLUTAMATE RECEPTOR-LIKE Gene Confers Resistance to Fusarium Wilt in .

Fusarium wilt (FW) disease of cotton, caused by the fungus f. sp. (), causes severe losses in cotton production worldwide. Though significant advancements have been made in development of FW-resistant Upland cotton () in resistance screening programs, the precise resistance genes and the corresponding molecular mechanisms for resistance to remain unclear. Herein it is reported that , a gene unlike canonical plant disease-resistance () genes, putatively encoding a GLUTAMATE RECEPTOR-LIKE (GLR) protein, confers resistance to race 7 in Upland cotton. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (C/A) in , resulting in an amino acid change (L/I), is associated with resistance. A PCR-based DNA marker ( ) is developed and shown to cosegregate with the resistance. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of results in cotton lines extremely susceptible to race 7 with a loss of the ability to induce calcium influx in response to total secreted proteins (SEPs) of . Furthermore, coinfiltration of SEPs with results in a hypersensitive response. This first report of a GLR-encoding gene that functions as an gene provides a new insight into plant-pathogen interactions and a new handle to develop cotton cultivars with resistance to race 7.