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A Ricin B-like lectin protein physically interacts with TaPFT and is involved in resistance to Fusarium head blight in wheat.

Fusarium head blight (FHB), mainly caused by Fusarium graminearum, has become one of the most serious diseases that damage wheat. The TaPFT (pore-forming toxin-like) and TaHRC (histidine rich calcium-binding protein) genes at the quantitative trait locus (QTL) Fhb1 were identified to confer resistance to FHB in the wheat cultivar Sumai 3. Here, a wheat ricin B-like lectin gene (designated TaRBL) that interacted with TaPFT was isolated by a yeast two-hybrid screen of a wheat cDNA library. A yeast two-hybrid and bimolecular fluorescence complementation study further verified that TaRBL interacted with TaPFT but not with TaHRC. Gene expression studies showed upon F. graminearum infection, TaRBL expression was upregulated in resistant cultivars but downregulated in susceptible cultivars. Furthermore, knockdown of TaRBL expression by barley stripe mosaic virus-induced gene silencing significantly reduced the resistance of wheat to FHB in both the resistant cultivar Sumai 3 and the susceptible cultivar Jimai 22. Thus, we conclude that TaRBL encodes a Ricin B-like lectin protein that interacts with TaPFT and is involved in resistance to FHB in wheat.