scholarly journals Commonly and Specifically Activated Defense Responses in Maize Disease Lesion Mimic Mutants Revealed by Integrated Transcriptomics and Metabolomics Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaohuan Mu ◽  
Jiankun Li ◽  
Zhuangzhuang Dai ◽  
Liping Xu ◽  
Tianyuan Fan ◽  
...  

Disease lesion mimic (Les/les) mutants display disease-like spontaneous lesions in the absence of pathogen infection, implying the constitutive activation of defense responses. However, the genetic and biochemical bases underlying the activated defense responses in those mutants remain largely unknown. Here, we performed integrated transcriptomics and metabolomics analysis on three typical maize Les mutants Les4, Les10, and Les17 with large, medium, and small lesion size, respectively, thereby dissecting the activated defense responses at the transcriptional and metabolomic level. A total of 1,714, 4,887, and 1,625 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in Les4, Les10, and Les17, respectively. Among them, 570, 3,299, and 447 specific differentially expressed genes (SGs) were identified, implying a specific function of each LES gene. In addition, 480 common differentially expressed genes (CGs) and 42 common differentially accumulated metabolites (CMs) were identified in all Les mutants, suggesting the robust activation of shared signaling pathways. Intriguingly, substantial analysis of the CGs indicated that genes involved in the programmed cell death, defense responses, and phenylpropanoid and terpenoid biosynthesis were most commonly activated. Genes involved in photosynthetic biosynthesis, however, were generally repressed. Consistently, the dominant CMs identified were phenylpropanoids and flavonoids. In particular, lignin, the phenylpropanoid-based polymer, was significantly increased in all three mutants. These data collectively imply that transcriptional activation of defense-related gene expression; increase of phenylpropanoid, lignin, flavonoid, and terpenoid biosynthesis; and inhibition of photosynthesis are generalnatures associated with the lesion formation and constitutively activated defense responses in those mutants. Further studies on the identified SGs and CGs will shed new light on the function of each LES gene as well as the regulatory network of defense responses in maize.

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (23) ◽  
pp. 5910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gui Geng ◽  
Chunhua Lv ◽  
Piergiorgio Stevanato ◽  
Renren Li ◽  
Hui Liu ◽  
...  

Soil salinization is a common environmental problem that seriously affects the yield and quality of crops. Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.), one of the main sugar crops in the world, shows a strong tolerance to salt stress. To decipher the molecular mechanism of sugar beet under salt stress, we conducted transcriptomic analyses of two contrasting sugar beet genotypes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comparison of salt-response transcriptomes in sugar beet with contrasting genotypes. Compared to the salt-sensitive cultivar (S710), the salt-tolerant one (T710MU) showed better growth and exhibited a higher chlorophyll content, higher antioxidant enzyme activity, and increased levels of osmotic adjustment molecules. Based on a high-throughput experimental system, 1714 differentially expressed genes were identified in the leaves of the salt-sensitive genotype, and 2912 in the salt-tolerant one. Many of the differentially expressed genes were involved in stress and defense responses, metabolic processes, signal transduction, transport processes, and cell wall synthesis. Moreover, expression patterns of several genes differed between the two cultivars in response to salt stress, and several key pathways involved in determining the salt tolerance of sugar beet, were identified. Our results revealed the mechanism of salt tolerance in sugar beet and provided potential metabolic pathways and gene markers for growing salt-tolerant cultivars.


PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e1991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanping Li ◽  
Shilin Tian ◽  
Xiaojun Yang ◽  
Xin Wang ◽  
Yuhai Guo ◽  
...  

Physcion and chrysophanol induce defense responses against powdery mildew in cucumbers. The combination of these two compounds has synergistic interaction against the disease. We performed RNA-seq on cucumber leaf samples treated with physcion and chrysophanol alone and with their combination. We generated 17.6 Gb of high-quality sequencing data (∼2 Gb per sample) and catalogued the expressions profiles of 12,293 annotated cucumber genes in each sample. We identified numerous differentially expressed genes that exhibited distinct expression patterns among the three treatments. The gene expression patterns of the Chr and Phy treatments were more similar to each other than to the Phy × Chr treatment. The Phy × Chr treatment induced the highest number of differentially expressed genes. This dramatic transcriptional change after Phy × Chr treatment leaves reflects that physcion combined with chrysophanol treatment was most closely associated with induction of disease resistance. The analysis showed that the combination treatment caused expression changes of numerous defense-related genes. These genes have known or potential roles in structural, chemical and signaling defense responses and were enriched in functional gene categories potentially responsible for cucumber resistance. These results clearly demonstrated that disease resistance in cucumber leaves was significantly influenced by the combined physcion and chrysophanol treatment. Thus, physcion and chrysophanol are appealing candidates for further investigation of the gene expression and associated regulatory mechanisms related to the defense response.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunfei Liao ◽  
Slim Sassi ◽  
Stefan Halvorsen ◽  
Yong Feng ◽  
Jacson Shen ◽  
...  

Abstract Osteosarcoma is the most common bone cancer in children and adolescents. Previously, we have found that cyclin-dependent kinase 11 (CDK11) signaling was essential for osteosarcoma cell growth and survival. Subsequently, CDK11 siRNA gene targeting, expression profiling, and network reconstruction of differentially expressed genes were performed between CDK11 knock down and wild type osteosarcoma cells. Reconstructed network of the differentially expressed genes pointed to the AR as key to CDK11 signaling in osteosarcoma. CDK11 increased transcriptional activation of AR gene in osteosarcoma cell lines. AR protein was highly expressed in various osteosarcoma cell lines and patient tumor tissues. Tissue microarray analysis showed that the disease-free survival rate for patients with high-expression of AR was significantly shorter than for patients with low-expression of AR. In addition, AR gene expression knockdown via siRNA greatly inhibited cell growth and viability. Similar results were found in osteosarcoma cells treated with AR inhibitor. These findings suggest that CDK11 is involved in the regulation of AR pathway and AR can be a potential novel prognostic marker and therapeutic target for osteosarcoma treatment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Harrison ◽  
Azucena Mendoza-Herrera ◽  
Julien Gad Levy ◽  
Cecilia Tamborindeguy

Abstract Background The tomato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli Šulc (Hemiptera: Triozidae), is a pest of solanaceous crops such as tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in the U.S. and vectors the disease-causing pathogen ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’. Currently, the only effective strategies for controlling the diseases associated with this pathogen involve regular pesticide applications to manage psyllid population density. However, such practices are unsustainable and will eventually lead to widespread pesticide resistance in psyllids. Therefore, new control strategies must be developed to increase host-plant resistance to insect vectors. For example, expression of constitutive and inducible plant defenses can be improved through selection. Currently, it is still unknown whether psyllid infestation has any lasting consequences on tomato plant defense or tomato plant gene expression in general. Results In order to characterize the genes putatively involved in tomato defense against psyllid infestation, RNA was extracted from psyllid-infested and uninfested tomato leaves (Moneymaker) 3 weeks post-infestation. Transcriptome analysis identified 362 differentially expressed genes. These differentially expressed genes were primarily associated with defense responses to abiotic/biotic stress, transcription/translation, cellular signaling/transport, and photosynthesis. These gene expression changes suggested that tomato plants underwent a reduction in plant growth/health in exchange for improved defense against stress that was observable 3 weeks after psyllid infestation. Consistent with these observations, tomato plant growth experiments determined that the plants were shorter 3 weeks after psyllid infestation. Furthermore, psyllid nymphs had lower survival rates on tomato plants that had been previously psyllid infested. Conclusion These results suggested that psyllid infestation has lasting consequences for tomato gene expression, defense, and growth.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaorui Xu ◽  
Jingya Xu ◽  
Chen Yuan ◽  
Yikai Hu ◽  
Qinggang Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The TGACG-binding (TGA) family has 10 members that play vital roles in Arabidopsis thaliana defense responses and development. However, their involvement in controlling flowering time remains largely unknown and requires further investigation. Results To study the role of TGA7 during floral transition, we first investigated the tga7 mutant, which displayed a delayed-flowering phenotype under both long-day and short-day conditions. We then performed a flowering genetic pathway analysis and found that both autonomous and thermosensory pathways may affect TGA7 expression. Furthermore, to reveal the differential gene expression profiles between wild-type (WT) and tga7, cDNA libraries were generated for WT and tga7 mutant seedlings at 9 days after germination. For each library, deep-sequencing produced approximately 6.67 Gb of high-quality sequences, with the majority (84.55 %) of mRNAs being between 500 and 3,000 nt. In total, 325 differentially expressed genes were identified between WT and tga7 mutant seedlings. Among them, four genes were associated with flowering time control. The differential expression of these four flowering-related genes was further validated by qRT-PCR. Conclusions Among these four differentially expressed genes associated with flowering time control, FLC and MAF5 may be mainly responsible for the delayed-flowering phenotype in tga7, as TGA7 expression was regulated by autonomous pathway genes. These results provide a framework for further studying the role of TGA7 in promoting flowering.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 3296
Author(s):  
Markus Kwik ◽  
Stefan Hainzl ◽  
Jan Oppelt ◽  
Boris Tichy ◽  
Ulrich Koller ◽  
...  

The transcriptional regulator peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma coactivator 1A (PGC-1α), encoded by PPARGC1A, has been linked to neurodegenerative diseases. Recently discovered CNS-specific PPARGC1A transcripts are initiated far upstream of the reference promoter, spliced to exon 2 of the reference gene, and are more abundant than reference gene transcripts in post-mortem human brain samples. The proteins translated from the CNS and reference transcripts differ only at their N-terminal regions. To dissect functional differences between CNS-specific isoforms and reference proteins, we used clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats transcriptional activation (CRISPRa) for selective endogenous activation of the CNS or the reference promoters in SH-SY5Y cells. Expression and/or exon usage of the targets was ascertained by RNA sequencing. Compared to controls, more differentially expressed genes were observed after activation of the CNS than the reference gene promoter, while the magnitude of alternative exon usage was comparable between activation of the two promoters. Promoter-selective associations were observed with canonical signaling pathways, mitochondrial and nervous system functions and neurological diseases. The distinct N-terminal as well as the shared downstream regions of PGC-1α isoforms affect the exon usage of numerous genes. Furthermore, associations of risk genes of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease were noted with differentially expressed genes resulting from the activation of the CNS and reference gene promoter, respectively. Thus, CNS-specific isoforms markedly amplify the biological functions of PPARGC1A and CNS-specific isoforms and reference proteins have common, complementary and selective functions relevant for neurodegenerative diseases.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Ricardo López ◽  
Dora Janeth Garcia-Jaramillo ◽  
Nelson Ceballos-Aguirre ◽  
Jairo Castaño-Zapata ◽  
Ricardo Acuña-Zornosa ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (Fol) is a compendium of pathogenic and non-pathogenic fungal strains. Pathogenic strains may cause vascular wilt disease and produce considerable losses in commercial tomato plots. To gain insight into the molecular mechanisms mediating resistance to Fol in tomato, the aim of our study was to characterize the transcriptional response of three cultivars (CT1, CT2 and IAC391) to a pathogenic (Fol-pt) and a non-pathogenic (Fo-npt) strain of Fo. Results All cultivars exhibited differentially expressed genes in response to each strain of the fungus at 36 h post-inoculation. For the pathogenic strain, CT1 deployed an apparent active defense response that included upregulation of WRKY transcription factors, an extracellular chitinase, and terpenoid-related genes, among others. In IAC391, differentially expressed genes included upregulated but mostly downregulated genes. Upregulated genes mapped to ethylene regulation, pathogenesis regulation and transcription regulation, while downregulated genes potentially impacted defense responses, lipid transport and metal ion binding. Finally, CT2 exhibited mostly downregulated genes upon Fol-pt infection. This included genes involved in transcription regulation, defense responses, and metal ion binding. Conclusions Results suggest that CT1 mounts a defense response against Fol-pt. IAC391 exhibits an intermediate phenotype whereby some defense response genes are activated, and others are suppressed. Finally, the transcriptional profile in the CT2 hints towards lower levels of resistance. Fo-npt also induced transcriptional changes in all cultivars, but to a lesser extent. Results of this study will support genetic breeding programs currently underway in the zone.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Harrison ◽  
Azucena Mendoza-Herrera ◽  
Julien Gad Levy ◽  
Cecilia Tamborindeguy

Abstract Background. The tomato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli Šulc (Hemiptera: Triozidae), is a pest of solanaceous crops such as tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in the U.S. and vectors the disease-causing pathogen ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’. Currently, the only effective strategies for controlling the diseases associated with this pathogen involve regular pesticide applications to manage psyllid population density. However, such practices are unsustainable and will eventually lead to widespread pesticide resistance in psyllids. Therefore, new control strategies must be developed to increase host-plant resistance to insect vectors. For example, expression of constitutive and inducible plant defenses can be improved through selection. Currently, it is still unknown whether psyllid infestation has any lasting consequences on tomato plant defense or tomato plant gene expression in general. Results. In order to characterize the genes putatively involved in tomato defense against psyllid infestation, RNA was extracted from psyllid-infested and uninfested tomato leaves (Moneymaker) three weeks post-infestation. Transcriptome analysis identified 362 differentially expressed genes. These differentially expressed genes were primarily associated with defense responses to abiotic/biotic stress, transcription/translation, cellular signaling/transport, and photosynthesis. These gene expression changes suggested that tomato plants underwent a reduction in plant growth/health in exchange for improved defense against stress that was observable three weeks after psyllid infestation. Consistent with these observations, tomato plant growth experiments determined that the plants were shorter three weeks after psyllid infestation. Furthermore, psyllid nymphs had lower survival rates on tomato plants that had been previously psyllid infested. Conclusion. These results suggested that psyllid infestation has lasting consequences for tomato gene expression, defense, and growth.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Khizar ◽  
Jianxin Shi ◽  
Urooj Haroon ◽  
Musrat Ali ◽  
Fiza Liaquat ◽  
...  

Abstract Differentially expressed genes help in exploring plant defense mechanism under variable stress conditions. In current investigation, RNA sequencing was executed to explore the differential gene expression in resistant and susceptible varieties of Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), upon infection with Aspergillus tubingensis. Comparative RNA-Seq of control and infected plants was performed using Illumina HiSeq 2,500. Overall 79.84 G clean data was generated and 6,558 DEGs were identified in both varieties, in response to pathogen inoculation. Differentially expressed genes were found to be involved in defense, antifungal response, signaling pathways, oxidative burst and transcription. Genes involved in defense responses, MAPK signaling, cell wall fortification and signal transduction were highly induced in resistant variety. Real time PCR also revealed the up regulation of MAPKKK YODA like, L-ascorbate oxidase, late embryogenesis abundant protein (At1g64065) and flavonoid 3',5'-hydroxylase-like, in resistant variety. Elevated accumulation of such DEGs in resistant variety could function as the source for identifying biomarkers for breeding and these can be used as potential candidate genes for transgenic manipulation. Their study also helped in understanding complex plant-fungal interaction and advanced the understanding of plant-microbe interaction. Inclusively, our findings provide an indispensable foundation for advanced understanding of the plant resistance mechanisms of cotton.


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