Powdery mildew in wheat, caused by the biotrophic fungus Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici (Bgt), is a major threat to global wheat production, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying differential cultivar resistance remain largely unresolved. In this study, tandem mass tag (TMT)-based quantitative proteomics was employed to investigate protein dynamics in resistant (Yannong37) and susceptible (Yannong1766) wheat cultivars at 0 and 24 h following Bgt inoculation. A total of 276 proteins exhibited significant changes in abundance after infection, with enrichment in cell wall and plasmodesmata-associated proteins. Comparative analysis further identified 456 differentially expressed proteins between the two cultivars at 24 h post-inoculation. Protein–protein interaction network analysis indicated that proteins involved in secondary metabolism and immune responses form coordinated regulatory networks contributing to disease resistance. RT–qPCR validation supported the reliability of the proteomic data. Notably, TaCAD-A1 displayed higher transcript abundance in the resistant cultivar and was associated with reduced fungal biomass accumulation. Silencing of TaCAD-A1 resulted in decreased expression of multiple defense-related genes. Collectively, these findings suggest that TaCAD-A1 may positively contribute to wheat resistance against Bgt infection and may be associated with defense responses and monolignol biosynthesis-related processes.
Sun et al. (Fri,) studied this question.