title: Integrated transcriptomics and metabolomics decipher differences in the resistance of pedunculate oak to the herbivore Tortrix viridana L.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The interaction between insect pests and their host plants is a never-ending race of evolutionary adaption. Plants have developed an armament against insect herbivore attacks, and attackers continuously learn how to address it. Using a combined transcriptomic and metabolomic approach, we investigated the molecular and biochemical differences between Quercus robur L. trees that resisted (defined as resistant oak type) or were susceptible (defined as susceptible oak type) to infestation by the major oak pest, Tortrix viridana L.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Next generation RNA sequencing revealed hundreds of genes that exhibited constitutive and/or inducible differential expression in the resistant oak compared to the susceptible oak. Distinct differences were found in the transcript levels and the metabolic content with regard to tannins, flavonoids, and terpenoids, which are compounds involved in the defence against insect pests. The results of our transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses are in agreement with those of a previous study in which we showed that female moths prefer susceptible oaks due to their specific profile of herbivore-induced volatiles. These data therefore define two oak genotypes that clearly differ on the transcriptomic and metabolomic levels, as reflected by their specific defensive compound profiles.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that the resistant oak type seem to prefer a strategy of constitutive defence responses in contrast to more induced defence responses of the susceptible oaks triggered by feeding. These results pave the way for the development of biomarkers for an early determination of potentially green oak leaf roller-resistant genotypes in natural pedunculate oak populations in Europe.
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kersten
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghirardo
authors.forename: Jörg-Peter
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Schnitzler
authors.forename: Basem
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kanawati
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schmitt-Kopplin
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fladung
authors.affiliation: Thünen Institute of Forest Genetics, Sieker Landstrasse 2, D-22927, Grosshansdorf, Germany. hilke.schroeder@ti.bund.de.
authors.forename: Hilke
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schroeder
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000378:metabolism; D019295:Computational Biology; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D060434:Herbivory; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D007915:Lepidoptera / Q000502:physiology*; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways / Q000235:genetics; D055432:Metabolomics; D010641:Phenotype; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D029963:Quercus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D059467:Transcriptome