Identification of novel genetic factors underlying the host-pathogen interaction between barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei).

Powdery mildew is an important foliar disease of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) caused by the biotrophic fungus Blumeria graminis f. sp.

Evolutionarily conserved partial gene duplication in the Triticeae tribe of grasses confers pathogen resistance.

Background: The large and highly repetitive genomes of the cultivated species Hordeum vulgare (barley), Triticum aestivum (wheat), and Secale cereale (rye) belonging to the Triticeae tribe of grasses appear to be particularly rich in gene-like sequences including partial duplicates. Most of them have been classified as putative pseudogenes. In this study we employ transient and stable gene silencing- and over-expression systems in barley to study the function of HvARM1 (for H.