Modeling of the jasmonate signaling pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana with respect to pathophysiology of Alternaria blight in Brassica

Rajesh Kumar Pathak,Anil Kumar,Mamta Baunthiyal,Dinesh Pandey,Neetesh Pandey

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-16884-3

Abstract

The productivity of Oilseed Brassica, one of the economically important crops of India, is seriously affected by the disease, Alternaria blight. The disease is mainly caused by two major necrotrophic fungi, Alternaria brassicae and Alternaria brassicicola which are responsible for significant yield losses. Till date, no resistant source is available against Alternaria blight, hence plant breeding methods can not be used to develop disease resistant varieties. Jasmonate mediated signalling pathway, which is known to play crucial role during defense response against necrotrophs, could be strengthened in Brassica plants to combat the disease. Since scanty information is available in Brassica-Alternaria pathosystems at molecular level therefore, in the present study efforts have been made to model jasmonic acid pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana to simulate the dynamic behaviour of molecular species in the model. Besides, the developed model was also analyzed topologically for investigation of the hubs node. COI1 is identified as one of the promising candidate genes in response to Alternaria and other linked components of plant defense mechanisms against the pathogens. The findings from present study are therefore informative for understanding the molecular basis of pathophysiology and rational management of Alternaria blight for securing food and nutritional security.

Highlights

Brassica species include major group of oilseed crops being grown in 53 countries across the six continents in world, with India being the second largest grower after China[1,2]
Jasmonic acid accumulates rapidly in phloem exudates of the leaves treated with an avirulent strain of Pseudomonas syringae in Arabidopsis thaliana, the transcripts associated with biosynthesis of jasmonate are up-regulated within 4 h, and increases transiently
13-HPOT is converted into the stable cis(+)-oxophytodienoic acid intermediate by two different enzyme families called as ALLENE OXYDE SYNTHASE (AOS) and ALLENE OXIDE CYCLASE (AOC)[24,25,26,27]

Summary

Introduction

Brassica species include major group of oilseed crops being grown in 53 countries across the six continents in world, with India being the second largest grower after China[1,2]. Recent advances in omics science and technology have produced wealth of information about plant-pathogen interactions in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana at molecular level, which may be utilized for deciphering the complexity of jasmonic acid signalling triggered during pathogenesis of Alternaria species of Brassica that enables us to identify possible molecular targets. These targets will further be exploited to develop strategies for induction of de novo defense in crop plants during pathogenesis[5,38].

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Conclusion