School of Breeding and Multiplication, Hainan University, Sanya, 572025, China.
School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China.
BMC Plant Biol. 2024 Jan 2;24(1):4. doi: 10.1186/s12870-023-04685-y.
Understanding how plants and pathogens regulate each other's gene expression during their interactions is key to revealing the mechanisms of disease resistance and controlling the development of pathogens. Despite extensive studies on the molecular and genetic basis of plant immunity against pathogens, the influence of pitaya immunity on N. dimidiatum metabolism to restrict pathogen growth is poorly understood, and how N. dimidiatum breaks through pitaya defenses. In this study, we used the RNA-seq method to assess the expression profiles of pitaya and N. dimidiatum at 4 time periods after interactions to capture the early effects of N. dimidiatum on pitaya processes.
The study defined the establishment of an effective method for analyzing transcriptome interactions between pitaya and N. dimidiatum and to obtain global expression profiles. We identified gene expression clusters in both the host pitaya and the pathogen N. dimidiatum. The analysis showed that numerous differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in the recognition and defense of pitaya against N. dimidiatum, as well as N. dimidiatum's evasion of recognition and inhibition of pitaya. The major functional groups identified by GO and KEGG enrichment were responsible for plant and pathogen recognition, phytohormone signaling (such as salicylic acid, abscisic acid). Furthermore, the gene expression of 13 candidate genes involved in phytopathogen recognition, phytohormone receptors, and the plant resistance gene (PG), as well as 7 effector genes of N. dimidiatum, including glycoside hydrolases, pectinase, and putative genes, were validated by qPCR. By focusing on gene expression changes during interactions between pitaya and N. dimidiatum, we were able to observe the infection of N. dimidiatum and its effects on the expression of various defense components and host immune receptors.
Our data show that various regulators of the immune response are modified during interactions between pitaya and N. dimidiatum. Furthermore, the activation and repression of these genes are temporally coordinated. These findings provide a framework for better understanding the pathogenicity of N. dimidiatum and its role as an opportunistic pathogen. This offers the potential for a more effective defense against N. dimidiatum.
了解植物和病原体在相互作用过程中如何调控彼此的基因表达，是揭示抗病机制和控制病原体发展的关键。尽管对植物免疫病原体的分子和遗传基础进行了广泛研究，但对火龙果免疫对 N. dimidiatum 代谢的影响知之甚少，也不清楚 N. dimidiatum 如何突破火龙果的防御。在这项研究中，我们使用 RNA-seq 方法评估了相互作用后 4 个时间点火龙果和 N. dimidiatum 的表达谱，以捕捉 N. dimidiatum 对火龙果过程的早期影响。
本研究定义了一种分析火龙果与 N. dimidiatum 转录组相互作用的有效方法，并获得了全局表达谱。我们在宿主火龙果和病原体 N. dimidiatum 中鉴定了基因表达簇。分析表明，大量参与火龙果识别和防御 N. dimidiatum 的差异表达基因（DEGs），以及 N. dimidiatum 逃避识别和抑制火龙果。GO 和 KEGG 富集分析确定的主要功能组负责植物和病原体的识别、植物激素信号转导（如水杨酸、脱落酸）。此外，通过 qPCR 验证了 13 个参与植物病原体识别、植物激素受体和植物抗性基因（PG）的候选基因，以及 N. dimidiatum 的 7 个效应基因，包括糖苷水解酶、果胶酶和推定基因。通过关注火龙果与 N. dimidiatum 相互作用过程中的基因表达变化，我们能够观察到 N. dimidiatum 的感染及其对各种防御成分和宿主免疫受体表达的影响。
我们的数据表明，在火龙果与 N. dimidiatum 相互作用过程中，各种免疫反应调节剂发生了改变。此外，这些基因的激活和抑制是时间协调的。这些发现为更好地理解 N. dimidiatum 的致病性及其作为机会性病原体的作用提供了框架。这为更有效地防御 N. dimidiatum 提供了可能。
