Abstract
The natural product citral has previously been demonstrated to possess antifungal activity against Magnaporthe oryzae. The purpose of this study was to screen and annotate genes that were differentially expressed (DEGs) in M. oryzae after treatment with citral using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). Thereafter, samples were reprepared for quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) analysis verification of RNA-seq data. The results showed that 649 DEGs in M. oryzae were significantly affected after treatment with citral (100 μg/mL) for 24 h. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and a gene ontology (GO) analysis showed that DEGs were mainly enriched in amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolic pathways, including the chitin synthesis pathway and UDP sugar synthesis pathway. The results of the RT-qPCR analysis also showed that the chitin present in M. oryzae might be degraded to chitosan, chitobiose, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, and β-D-fructose-6-phosphate following treatment with citral. Chitin degradation was indicated by damaged cell-wall integrity. Moreover, the UDP glucose synthesis pathway was involved in glycolysis and gluconeogenesis, providing precursors for the synthesis of polysaccharides. Galactose-1-phosphate uridylyltransferase, which is involved in the regulation of UDP-α-D-galactose and α-D-galactose-1-phosphate, was downregulated. This would result in the inhibition of UDP glucose (UDP-Glc) synthesis, a reduction in cell-wall glucan content, and the destruction of cell-wall integrity.
Highlights
The fungus M. oryzae causes rice blast, which is the most widespread and serious disease affecting rice [1,2] and one of the most destructive and economically harmful diseases affecting rice production worldwide [3,4]
The results show that the antifungal mechanism of citral against M. oryzae occurs via regulating the expression of key genes involved in the chitin and UDP glucose synthesis pathways
An RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis identified the effects of citral concentration on M. oryzae
Summary
The fungus M. oryzae causes rice blast, which is the most widespread and serious disease affecting rice [1,2] and one of the most destructive and economically harmful diseases affecting rice production worldwide [3,4]. The methods of diseaseresistant variety breeding and chemical control are mainly used for the prevention and control of M. oryzae in China [5]. As a result of the shortcomings of traditional breeding of disease-resistant varieties, such as long breeding cycles, easy-to-lose resistance, and the high cost of research and development in the field of chemical pesticides, pesticide residues, and drug resistance [6], a move away from the traditional excessive dependence on chemical pesticides during crop management became necessary. Under the premise of stabilizing production, intensive efforts were needed to develop biological pesticide technology with low toxicity and low residue characteristics. The discovery of antifungal and germicidal compounds from plants has led to the efficient creation of new pollution-free pesticides [7,8].
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