Gene expression investigations on plant-pathogen interactions between Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria and pepper ( Capsicum annuum L.) using the cDNA-AFLP technology
In order to target factors involved in plant-pathogen interactions, gene expression differences were investigated on pepper ( Capsicum annuum L.) plants after artificial infection with the bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria . Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism investigations on reverse transcribed DNA fragments (cDNA-AFLP) were used to compare the expression profiles of parental lines and of resistant and susceptible individuals from pepper populations segregating for the gds gene, which confers a general defence system in pepper. In total, 73 transcript-derived fragments (TDFs) displaying differential expression patterns could be identified (presence-absence and/or different time courses in resistant and susceptible genotypes). Of these, 67 fragments were cloned and sequenced. In the case of several TDFs, sequence comparisons revealed close homologies to genes known to be responsible for abiotic stress or biotic elicitors, presenting potentially interesting targets for more detailed studies on gene expression and signal transduction.