High-throughput transcriptome analysis of the leafy flower transition of Catharanthus roseus induced by peanut witches'-broom phytoplasma infection.
Peanut witches'-broom (PnWB) phytoplasma are obligate bacteria that cause leafy flower symptoms in Catharanthus roseus. The PnWB-mediated leafy flower transitions were studied to understand the mechanisms underlying the pathogen-host interaction; however, our understanding is limited because of the lack of information on the C. roseus genome. In this study, the whole-transcriptome profiles from healthy flowers (HFs) and stage 4 (S4) PnWB-infected leafy flowers of C. roseus were investigated using next-generation sequencing (NGS). More than 60,000 contigs were generated using a de novo assembly approach, and 34.2% of the contigs (20,711 genes) were annotated as putative genes through name-calling, open reading frame determination and gene ontology analyses. Furthermore, a customized microarray based on this sequence information was designed and used to analyze samples further at various stages of PnWB infection. In the NGS profile, 87.8% of the genes showed expression levels that were consistent with those in the microarray profiles, suggesting that accurate gene expression levels can be detected using NGS. The data revealed that defense-related and flowering gene expression levels were altered in S4 PnWB-infected leafy flowers, indicating that the immunity and reproductive stages of C. roseus were compromised. The network analysis suggested that the expression levels of >1,000 candidate genes were highly associated with CrSVP1/2 and CrFT expression, which might be crucial in the leafy flower transition. In conclusion, this study provides a new perspective for understanding plant pathology and the mechanisms underlying the leafy flowering transition caused by host-pathogen interactions through analyzing bioinformatics data obtained using a powerful, rapid high-throughput technique.
Department of Agronomy, National Taiwan University, 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei, Taiwan, 106.
Li-Yu Daisy
LY
Liu
Hsin-I
HI
Tseng
Chan-Pin
CP
Lin
Yen-Yu
YY
Lin
Yuan-Hung
YH
Huang
Chien-Kang
CK
Huang
Tean-Hsu
TH
Chang
Shih-Shun
SS
Lin
D030008:Catharanthus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000382:microbiology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D063990:Gene Ontology; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D045582:Phytoplasma / Q000502:physiology*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D059467:Transcriptome
D010940:Plant Proteins
Catharanthus roseus; Leafy flower; Microarray; Next-generation sequencing; Peanut witches’-broom phytoplasma; Transcriptome