Abstract
Sclerotinia stem rot caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a devastating disease for many important crops worldwide, including Brassica napus. Although numerous studies have been performed on the gene expression changes in B. napus and S. sclerotiorum, knowledge regarding the molecular mechanisms of B. napus–S. sclerotiorum interactions is limited. Here, we revealed the changes in the gene expression and related pathways in both B. napus and S. sclerotiorum during the sclerotinia stem rot (SSR) infection process using transcriptome analyses. In total, 1,986, 2,217, and 16,079 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in B. napus at 6, 24, and 48 h post-inoculation, respectively, whereas 1,511, 1,208, and 2,051 DEGs, respectively, were identified in S. sclerotiorum. The gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses showed that most of the hormone-signaling pathways in B. napus were enriched, and thus, the hormone contents at four stages were measured. The DEGs and hormone contents revealed that salicylic acid was activated, while the jasmonic acid pathway was repressed at 24 h post-inoculation. Additionally, the expressional patterns of the cell wall-degrading enzyme-encoding genes in S. sclerotiorum and the hydrolytic enzymes in B. napus were consistent with the SSR infection process. The results contribute to a better understanding of the interactions between B. napus and S. sclerotiorum and the development of future preventive measures against SSR.
Highlights
Brassica napus is the second most widely produced oilseed crop worldwide and is constantly threatened by a devastating disease caused by the fungal pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum
Using the gene expression levels calculated by fragments per kilobase of transcript per million (FPKM) mapped reads, we found a tight overlap among the three stages (6, 24, and 48 hpi) compared with the mock stage (0 hpi; Figure 1F), having 253 differentially expressed genes (DEGs)
S. sclerotiorum may be killed by different active antimicrobial products formed by rapeseeds, such as indole glycosides, or by the production of chitinase and β-1, 3-glucanase, which degrade the cell walls of
Summary
Brassica napus (canola, rapeseed) is the second most widely produced oilseed crop worldwide and is constantly threatened by a devastating disease caused by the fungal pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary, the causative agent of sclerotinia stem rot (SSR), is a plant pathogen that belongs to the Sclerotiniaceae family of Ascomycete fungi. It has a wide host range and can infect more than 400 plant species, including many important crop plants (Boland and Hall, 1994; Kabbage et al, 2015). It is imperative to understand the molecular mechanisms of B. napus and S. sclerotiorum interactions and to create new sources of diseaseresistant rapeseed
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