Gene Expression Profiling in Rice Infected with Rice Blast Fungus using SAGE

Abstract

Rice blast disease, caused by the pathogenic fungus Magnaporthe grisea, is a serious issue in rice (Oryza sativa L.) growing regions of the world. Transcript profiling in rice inoculated with the fungus has been investigated using the transcriptomics technology, serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE). Short sequence tags containing sufficient information which are ten base-pairs representing the unique transcripts were identified by SAGE technology. We identified a total of 910 tag sequences via the GenBank database, and the resulting genes were shown to be up-regulated in all functional categories under the fungal biotic stress. Compared to the compatible interaction, the stress and defense genes in the incompatible interaction appear to be more up-regulated. Particularly, thaumatin-like gene (TLP) was investigated in determining the gene and protein expression level utilizing Northern and Western blotting analyses, resulting in an increase in both the gene and the protein expression level which arose earlier in the incompatible interaction than in the compatible interaction.