Abstract
Background: Grape cultivation is severely affected by powdery mildew and downy mildew worldwide leading to significant losses in productivity and quality. To control such diseases in an environment friendly way, it is essential to understand the molecular mechanisms of fungal resistance in grapes. When the plant is infected with pathogen, various defense mechanisms are activated in plants at molecular level, the ultimate aim of all is to provide immunity against infection. Results: In our study, we tried to understand the Salicylic acid (SA) mediated pathway of ETI through a cascade of defense molecules ultimately leading to activation and expression of PR proteins that provides SAR in plants. We performed genome-wide identification of defensive molecules expressed during PM and DM infection in grapevine. Consequently, we identified 2, 4, 7, 4, 2, 1, 20 and 7 differentially expressed PM-responsive defensive genes ( NBS-LRR, EDS1, NDR1, NPR, PAD4, RAR1, TFs and PR ) and 28, 2, 5, 4, 1, 39 and 19 differentially expressed DM-responsive defensive genes ( NBS-LRR, EDS1, NDR1, NPR, RAR1, TFs and PR ) in V. vinifera. Next, the co-expression between the identified defensive genes was performed that tells us about the sequence of events that occurs during a signaling cascade in response to PM and DM-infection. Further, we characterized the identified genes on the basis of physico-chemical properties, chromosomal positions, gene and protein structure analysis and functional annotation. Conclusion: The powdery and downy mildew responsive defensive genes identified in this study can be used to develop new and improved PM and DM-resistant grape varieties in future.
Effect of harvest time on physico-chemical properties and bioactive compounds of pulp and seeds of grape varieties
