GmDRR1, a dirigent protein resistant to Phytophthora sojae in Glycine max (L.) Merr

Soil-borne pathogen Phytophthora sojae is an oomycete that causes devastating damage to soybean yield. To mine original resistant genes in soybean is an effective and environmentally-friend approach controlling the disease. In this study, soybean proteins were extracted from the first trifoliolates infected by predominant P sojae race 1 and analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Nineteen differently-expressed protein spots were detected, and 10 of them were further applied for Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/lonization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry Assay. One protein containing a dirigent (DIR) domain was identified and belonged to the DIR-b/d family. Therefore, it was named as GmDRR1 (gycine max Disease Resistance Response 1). Then, GmDRR1 gene was pathologically confirmed to be involved in the resistant to P sojae in soybean. GmDRR1-GFP (green fluorescent protein) fusion proteins localized in the cell membrane. qRT-PCR results showed GmDRR1 gene expressed differently in P sojae resistant- and susceptible-soybean cultivars. By the promoter analysis, we found a haplotype H8 was existing in most resistant soybean varieties, while a haplotype H77 was existing in most susceptible soybean varieties. The H77 haplotype had seven SNPs (C to A, G to C, C to A, T to A, T to C, T to C, and T to A) and two single nucleotide insertions. The results supported that the expression difference of GmDRR1 genes between P sojae resistant- and susceptible-soybean cultivars might depend on the GmDRR1 promoter SNPs. The results suggested that GmDRR1 was a dirigent protein involved in soybean resistant to P sojae and paved a novel way for investigation of the molecular regulatory mechanism of the defense response to P sojae in soybean.