Transcript profiling of a conifer pathosystem: response of Pinus sylvestris root tissues to pathogen (Heterobasidion annosum) invasion.
The mechanisms underlying defence reactions to a pathogen attack, though well studied in crop plants, are poorly understood in conifers. To analyze changes in gene transcript abundance in Pinus sylvestris L. root tissues infected by Heterobasidion annosum (Fr.) Bref. s.l., a cDNA microarray containing 2109 ESTs from P. taeda L. was used. Mixed model statistical analysis identified 179 expressed sequence tags differentially expressed at 1, 5 or 15 days post inoculation. In general, the total number of genes differentially expressed during the infection increased over time. The most abundant group of genes up-regulated upon infection coded for enzymes involved in metabolism (phenylpropanoid pathway) and defence-related proteins with antimicrobial properties. A class III peroxidase responsible for lignin biosynthesis and cell wall thickening had increased transcript abundance at all measurement times. Real-time RT-PCR verified the microarray results with high reproducibility. The similarity of the expression profiling pattern observed in this pathosystem to those documented in crop pathology suggests that angiosperms and gymnosperms use similar genetic programs in responding to invasive growth by microbial pathogens.
Department of Forest Mycology and Pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7026, Uppsala, Sweden. aleksandra.adomas@mykopat.slu.se
Aleksandra
A
Adomas
Gregory
G
Heller
Guosheng
G
Li
Ake
A
Olson
Tzu-Ming
TM
Chu
Jason
J
Osborne
Deborah
D
Craig
Lee
L
van Zyl
Russ
R
Wolfinger
Ron
R
Sederoff
Ralph A
RA
Dean
Jan
J
Stenlid
Roger
R
Finlay
Frederick O
FO
Asiegbu
D005658:Fungi / Q000502:physiology*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D041605:Pinus sylvestris / Q000378:metabolism*; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D036226:Seedlings
D010940:Plant Proteins