Base editing of EIF4E creates novel resistance alleles against bymoviruses in winter barley
The barley yellow mosaic virus disease is one of the most important threats of barley production in Europe and Asia. Transmitted by the soil-borne plasmodiophorid Polymyxa graminis, there are no direct control options against the causal bymoviruses Barley Yellow Mosaic Virus (BaYMV) and Barley Mild Mosaic Virus (BaMMV). Resistance breeding is thus the only viable approach and has been very…
Barley yellow mosaic virus poses a significant threat to barley production in Europe and Asia. There are no direct control measures for the responsible bymoviruses, BaYMV and BaMMV. Breeding for resistance has been successful in the past, utilizing resistance alleles rym4 and rym5. However, the viruses have now overcome this resistance, necessitating new sources of resistance.
Genome editing with Cas endonucleases is a promising solution. A recent study employed base editing on the EIF4E gene, using an nCas9-cytidine deaminase fusion to make base exchanges at two positions. This resulted in 10 novel EIF4E alleles, including a single nucleotide polymorphism from rym4. Two of these new alleles provided resistance to BaMMV without negatively impacting yield, demonstrating the potential of this approach for generating new resistance material in breeding programs.
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