Abstract
Phytophthora infestans is a hemibiotroph Oomycete that primarily infects tomato. In this study, the growth status and pathogenicity of attenuated and virulent strains of Phytophthora infestans were determined. Furthermore, RNA-seq technology was used to explore the differences in gene transcription levels between attenuated and virulent strains. Gene Ontology (GO) classification and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed on the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) obtained by sequencing, and the significant DEGs related to the growth and pathogenicity of the strains were screened from the significantly enriched pathways. The results revealed that compared with the virulent strain, the growth of the attenuated strain was inhibited, the structure of hyphae was destroyed, and the disease index was decreased. The differences in the growth status and disease index of the attenuated strain were related to changes in several metabolic pathways, and the DEGs in the metabolic pathways indicated alterations in the attenuated strain growth and pathogenicity. There were 2,651 DEGs in the attenuated strain, of which 1,086 were upregulated and 1,565 were downregulated. The inhibited growth of the attenuated strain was associated with accumulation of excessive glucose, decomposition of serine/glycine, and reduction of tryptophan synthesis. The reduced pathogenicity of the strain was associated with degradation of the cell wall and reduced formation of melanin and α-keto butyric acid. These results could offer insights into the mechanisms of attenuation of Phytophthora infestans.
Highlights
Tomato late blight is an important plant disease that seriously threatens the cultivation and production of tomatoes
Gene Ontology (GO) classification and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed on the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) obtained by sequencing, and the significant DEGs related to the growth and pathogenicity of the strains were screened from the significantly enriched pathways
By comparing the significant DEGs between attenuated and virulent strains, we found that the expression levels of twelve coding genes involved in glucose production were all up-regulated
Summary
Tomato late blight is an important plant disease that seriously threatens the cultivation and production of tomatoes. Tomato late blight is caused by the infestation of Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) De Bary (Mo et al 2016; Hu et al 2018; Liu et al 2019; Zhi et al 2020). The host range is relatively narrow, and among cultivated plants, only tomatoes and potatoes are infected (Wa 2019). The spores are spread by air currents, and they infect host plants when the temperature and humidity are suitable (Li 2020). The conditions for infecting tomatoes are low temperature and high humidity, and the symptoms of late blight may appear in tropical areas under suitable weather conditions in winter (Tewodros et al 2019)
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