Abstract
Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima Blume) can be infested by Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu, resulting in gall formation and yield losses. Research on the control of gall wasps using genomics approaches is rarely reported. We used RNA-seq to investigate the dynamic changes in the genes of a chestnut species (C. mollissima B.) during four gall-formation stages caused by D. kuriphilus. A total of 21,306 genes were annotated by BLAST in databases. Transcriptome comparison between different gall-formation stages revealed many genes that were differentially expressed compared to the control. Among these, 2410, 7373, 6294, and 9412 genes were differentially expressed in four gall-formation stages: initiation stage (A), early growth stage (B), late growth stage (C), and maturation stage (D), respectively. Annotation analysis indicated that many metabolic processes (e.g., phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, secondary metabolism, plant–pathogen interaction) were affected. Interesting genes encoding putative components of signal transduction, stress response, and transcription factors were also differentially regulated. These genes might play important roles in response to D. kuriphilus gall formation. These new data on the mechanism by which D. kuriphilus infests chestnuts could help improve chestnut resistance.
Highlights
Chestnuts are economically important nuts and timber-producing trees that include the Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima), Japanese chestnut (Castanea crenata), European chestnut (Castanea sativa), and American chestnut (Castanea dentata) [1,2]
Galls are small at the initiation stage (Gall_A)
We found that the majority of cutin- and wax-metabolism-related genes were differentially regulated during gall formation of D. kuriphilus (Figure 8)
Summary
Chestnuts are economically important nuts and timber-producing trees that include the Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima), Japanese chestnut (Castanea crenata), European chestnut (Castanea sativa), and American chestnut (Castanea dentata) [1,2]. Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima BL) is a major cultivated species producing edible chestnuts in China [1]. C. mollissima has been affected by major diseases and pests which have caused significant losses. The chestnut gall wasp, Dryocosmus kuriphilus (Hymenoptera Cynipidae), which is native to mainland Asia, was introduced to Japan, North America, and Europe and has become a significant pest of cultivated chestnuts [3]. D. kuriphilus can prevent normal plant growth and cause a progressive loss of photosynthetic biomass [4]. It is important to investigate effective strategies to combat this pest
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