title: Aspergillus flavus infection induces transcriptional and physical changes in developing maize kernels.
abstract: Maize kernels are susceptible to infection by the opportunistic pathogen Aspergillus flavus. Infection results in reduction of grain quality and contamination of kernels with the highly carcinogenic mycotoxin, aflatoxin. To understanding host response to infection by the fungus, transcription of approximately 9000 maize genes were monitored during the host-pathogen interaction with a custom designed Affymetrix GeneChip® DNA array. More than 4000 maize genes were found differentially expressed at a FDR of 0.05. This included the up regulation of defense related genes and signaling pathways. Transcriptional changes also were observed in primary metabolism genes. Starch biosynthetic genes were down regulated during infection, while genes encoding maize hydrolytic enzymes, presumably involved in the degradation of host reserves, were up regulated. These data indicate that infection of the maize kernel by A. flavus induced metabolic changes in the kernel, including the production of a defense response, as well as a disruption in kernel development.
authors.affiliation: Monsanto Company Waterman, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Andrea L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Dolezal
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaomei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Gregory R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: OBrian
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Dahlia M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University West Lafayette, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Charles P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Woloshuk
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Microbiological Sciences, North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Boston
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Gary A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Payne
keywords: Aspergillus flavus; aflatoxins; genetic; maize; pathogenesis; transcription