Centre for Crop and Disease Management, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia.
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Agriculture and Food, Floreat, WA, Australia.
BMC Genomics. 2021 May 8;22(1):333. doi: 10.1186/s12864-021-07655-6.
Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, the cause of Sclerotinia stem rot (SSR), is a host generalist necrotrophic fungus that can cause major yield losses in chickpea (Cicer arietinum) production. This study used RNA sequencing to conduct a time course transcriptional analysis of S. sclerotiorum gene expression during chickpea infection. It explores pathogenicity and developmental factors employed by S. sclerotiorum during interaction with chickpea.
During infection of moderately resistant (PBA HatTrick) and highly susceptible chickpea (Kyabra) lines, 9491 and 10,487 S. sclerotiorum genes, respectively, were significantly differentially expressed relative to in vitro. Analysis of the upregulated genes revealed enrichment of Gene Ontology biological processes, such as oxidation-reduction process, metabolic process, carbohydrate metabolic process, response to stimulus, and signal transduction. Several gene functional categories were upregulated in planta, including carbohydrate-active enzymes, secondary metabolite biosynthesis clusters, transcription factors and candidate secreted effectors. Differences in expression of four S. sclerotiorum genes on varieties with different levels of susceptibility were also observed.
These findings provide a framework for a better understanding of S. sclerotiorum interactions with hosts of varying susceptibility levels. Here, we report for the first time on the S. sclerotiorum transcriptome during chickpea infection, which could be important for further studies on this pathogen's molecular biology.
核盘菌（Sclerotinia sclerotiorum）是造成菌核茎腐病（SSR）的病原菌，它是一种兼性寄生病原体，能使鹰嘴豆（Cicer arietinum）的产量遭受严重损失。本研究利用 RNA 测序对核盘菌在感染鹰嘴豆过程中的基因表达进行了时间进程转录分析。研究探索了核盘菌在与鹰嘴豆互作过程中采用的致病性和发育因子。
在中度抗性（PBA HatTrick）和高度敏感的鹰嘴豆（Kyabra）系的感染过程中，相对于体外条件，分别有 9491 个和 10487 个核盘菌基因的表达显著差异。对上调基因的分析显示，氧化还原过程、代谢过程、碳水化合物代谢过程、对刺激的反应和信号转导等基因本体论（GO）生物学过程得到了富集。几个基因功能类别在植物体内被上调，包括碳水化合物活性酶、次生代谢物生物合成簇、转录因子和候选分泌效应子。还观察到在不同感病性品种上四个核盘菌基因的表达差异。
这些发现为更好地理解核盘菌与不同感病性宿主的相互作用提供了一个框架。在这里，我们首次报道了核盘菌在感染鹰嘴豆过程中的转录组，这对进一步研究该病原体的分子生物学可能很重要。
