Differential expression of genes related to bacterial wilt resistance in peanut (<I>Arachis hypogaea</I> L.)

Abstract

Peanut bacterial wilt (BW) caused by Ralstonia solanacearum is one of the most devastating diseases for peanut production in the world. It is believed that breeding and subsequent planting BW-resistant cultivars of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) should represent the most effective and economic means of controlling the disease. To illustrate the molecular mechanism of peanut resistant to BW, a BW-resistant cultivar, 'Yuanza 9102', and a BW-sensitive one, 'Zhonghua 12', were infected with Ralstonia solanacearum and differential expression of the genes related to BW-resistance was analyzed using complementary DNA amplified length polymorphism (cDNA-AFLP) technique. The infected 3-leaflet seedlings were followed for 48 h and root samples were taken at 0, 2, 10, 24 and 48 h after inoculation, respectively. A total of 12596 transcript-derived fragments (TDFs) were amplified with 256 primer combinations, including 709 differential expressed TDFs, which were generated from 119 primer combinations. Ninety-eight TDFs were randomly chosen for DNA sequence analysis. BLASTx analysis of the obtained sequences revealed that 40 TDFs encoded gene products associated with energy, transcription, signal transduction, defense, metabolism, cell growth, cell structure or/and protein synthesis. Analysis of the expression of four genes by qRT-PCR verified the results from cDNA-AFLP. Strikingly, one of the identified TDFs, 32-54-1, occurred for 47 times in a known BW-resistant SSH library. These results suggest that resistance to BW in peanut involves multifaceted biochemical and physiological reactions, including regulation of the genes involved in different pathways, such as defense, singal transduction, metabolism, transcription and abiotic stresses. The TDF 32-54-1 was predicted to be closely related to BW resistance in peanut.