Abstract
Tilletia laevis Kühn [synonym T. foetida (Wallr.) Liro] can lead to a wheat common bunt, which is one of the most serious diseases affecting kernels, a serious reduction in grain yield, and losses can reach up to 80% in favorable environments. To understand how wheat tassels respond to T. laevis, based on an RNA-Seq technology, we analyzed a host transcript accumulation on healthy wheat tassels and on tassels infected by the pathogen. Our results showed that 7,767 out of 15,658 genes were upregulated and 7,891 out of 15,658 genes were downregulated in wheat tassels. Subsequent gene ontology (GO) showed that differentially expressed genes (DEGs) are predominantly involved in biological processes, cellular components, and molecular functions. Additionally, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis showed that 20 pathways were expressed significantly during the infection of wheat with T. laevis, while biosynthesis of amino acids, carbon metabolism, and starch and sucrose metabolism pathways were more highly expressed. Our findings also demonstrated that genes involved in defense mechanisms and myeloblastosis (MYB) transcription factor families were mostly upregulated, and the RNA-seq results were validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). This is the first report on transcriptomics analysis of wheat tassels in response to T. laevis, which will contribute to understanding the interaction of T. laevis and wheat, and may provide higher efficiency control strategies, including developing new methods to increase the resistance of wheat crops to T. laevis-caused wheat common bunt.
Highlights
Common bunt of wheat, which may have been caused by Tilletia laevis Kühn (synonym T. foetida (Wallr.) Liro), which is one of the most serious fungal diseases affecting the wheat crops globally (Goates, 2012; Bokore et al, 2019)
Based on RNA-Seq, we identified the alterations in wheat genes when the spike was infected by T. laevis
The principal component analysis (PCA) of the samples of the infection group and the control group found that the control group was concentrated in the first and third quadrants, and the infection group was concentrated mainly in the second and fourth quadrants, indicating that there were differences and good repeatability within each group (Figure 3)
Summary
Common bunt of wheat, which may have been caused by Tilletia laevis Kühn (synonym T. foetida (Wallr.) Liro), which is one of the most serious fungal diseases affecting the wheat crops globally (Goates, 2012; Bokore et al, 2019). This disease affects wheat crop growth and production via the infection of roots, vascular bundles of stems, leaves, tassels, and grains by replacing the grain materials and leads to a marked decline in yield and quality An improved understanding of the defense mechanisms used by wheat crops in response to common bunt will contribute to the design of new and safer control strategies and aid in the development of resistant cultivars
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