Abstract
Fusarium wilt results in undesirable effects on the quality and production of chieh-qua (Benincasa hispida Cogn. var. Chieh-qua How). Fusaric acid (FA), a secondary metabolite of biotin produced by pathogens of genus Fusarium, induced resistant responses in chieh-qua; however, the physiological and molecular mechanism(s) of FA resistance remains largely unknown. In our study, ‘A39’ (FA-resistant cultivar) exhibited decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) content and increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme activity when exposed to FA compared with ‘H5’ (FA-susceptible cultivar). More apoptosis cells existed in ‘H5’ than ‘A39’ after 2 days of FA treatment. RNA-seq results revealed that a total of 2968 and 3931 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected under normal conditions (1562 up-regulated and 1406 down-regulated) and FA treatment (2243 up-regulated and 1688 down-regulated), respectively. Interestingly, DEGs associated with pathogen-related protein and ethylene (ET) biosynthesis and signal pathways were most significantly changed during FA stress. Notably, several crucial genes encoding pathogenesis-related protein (CL4451.Contig2, CL2175.Contig4), peroxidase (Unigene49615 and CL11695.Contig2), and ET-responsive transcription factors (TFs) (CL9320.Contig1, CL9849.Contig3, CL6826.Contig2, CL919. Contig6, and CL518.Contig7) were specifically induced after FA treatment. Collectively, the study provides molecular data for isolating candidate genes involved in FA resistance, especially ET related genes in chieh-qua.
Highlights
IntroductionChieh-qua faces constantly changing environmental conditions including biotic stresses (herbivore attack, pathogen infection) and abiotic stresses (drought, high or low temperatures) [3]
Among transition SNPs, C/T and G/A were the larger part with 19.41% and we identified 2968 (Table S3) and 3931 (Table S4) differentially expressed genes (DEGs)
Fusaric acid (FA) produced by pathogens of the genus Fusarium could lead to negative effects on plant development
Summary
Chieh-qua faces constantly changing environmental conditions including biotic stresses (herbivore attack, pathogen infection) and abiotic stresses (drought, high or low temperatures) [3]. Fusarium wilt (FW), is a worldwide, disruptive soil borne disease, and is the most threatening pathogen, causing severe decreases in production and quality in chieh-qua [2,4]. The FW pathogen first enters into the host organization by root wounds or micropores at the tip of root hairs, infecting the xylem vessels leading to a reddish-brown discoloration of the rhizome [5]. Fusaric acid (5-butylpyridine-2-carboxylic acid, FA), a non-host-specific phytotoxin of Fusarium species, is reported to be involved in pathogenecity [6,7]. Much higher concentration was detected in plant tissues [8,9]. FA exerts essential roles in increasing FW symptoms in plants [10,11,12] and the content of FA is related to incidence rate in banana [9]
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