The Wall-Associated Receptor-Like Kinase TaWAK7D Is Required for Defense Responses to in Wheat.

Sharp eyespot, caused by necrotrophic fungus , is a serious fungal disease in wheat (). Certain wall-associated receptor kinases (WAK) mediate resistance to diseases caused by biotrophic/hemibiotrophic pathogens in several plant species. Yet, none of wheat genes with positive effect on the innate immune responses to has been reported. In this study, we identified a gene , located on chromosome 7D, and showed its positive regulatory role in the defense response to infection in wheat. RNA-seq and qRT-PCR analyses showed that transcript abundance was elevated in wheat after inoculation and the induction in the stem was the highest among the tested organs. Additionally, transcript levels were significantly elevated by pectin and chitin treatments. The knock-down of transcript impaired resistance to and repressed the expression of five pathogenesis-related genes in wheat. The green fluorescent protein signal distribution assays indicated that TaWAK7D localized on the plasma membrane in wheat protoplasts. Thus, TaWAK7D, which is induced by , pectin and chitin stimuli, positively participates in defense responses to through modulating the expression of several pathogenesis-related genes in wheat.