Abstract
Fungi from the genera Fusarium, Alternaria, Botrytis and oomycete Phytophthora species cause massive dieback of seedlings in pine nurseries and orchards. The synthesis of antimicrobial compounds, including pathogenesis-related proteins, is one of the main strategies to protect juvenile plants against pathogen attack. Here, we report the data on the expression levels of lipid-transfer protein gene and four defensin genes in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) seedlings, inoculated with Alternaria alternata, Fusarium solani and Phytophthora cinnamоmi during the pathological process,assessed bysemiquantitative multiplex RT-PCR.We found that the expression levels of each gene greatly vary between each other and depend on the nature of the pathogen. It was detected that all tested pathogens considerably affect the expression levels of the investigated genes. A significant accumulation of PsDef1 transcripts was observed in pine seedlings 48 hours after inoculation, while the expression of another PsDef4 was upregulated only during first 24 hours of contact with pathogens. ThelevelsofPsDef3 transcriptswereelevatedonly in seedlings, inoculated with F. solani, while the expression of PsLTP1 gene was differentially regulated by all three pathogens, which indicates the dependence of transcriptional response in the seedlings on the nature of pathogen and mechanisms, which are triggered by them on the changes in signal transduction pathways. Collectively, our results suggest the involvement of defensins and lipid-transfer protein in primary defense mechanisms of Scots pine seedlings against tested pathogens.
Highlights
Scots pine is an ecologically and economically important forest tree species native to Eurasia
In this paper, using semi-quantitative RT-PCR, we examined the transcriptional changes of PsDef1-4 and PsLTP1 genes that occur in tissues after inoculation of Scots pine seedlings with dangerous pathogens: Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissl., Fusarium solani (Mart.) Sacc. and Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands
What concerns hemibiotrophic pathogens, they affect the expression of PsLTP1 in opposite to each other ways
Summary
Scots pine is an ecologically and economically important forest tree species native to Eurasia. Pine stands account for 34.6 % of the State Forest Fund in Ukraine, occupying about 10 million hectares (Hensiruk, 2002). It is especially important to find ways and means to increase productivity and biological stability of pine stands in stressful environmental conditions. One of the promising ways to improve the health of pine stands is a selection of resistant genotypes by molecular markers. For this purpose, we can propose the pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins, which, due to their specificity and expression patterns, seem to be the attractive candidates (Lacerda, et al, 2014)
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