title: Plant and fungal gene expression in mycorrhizal protocorms of the orchid Serapias vomeracea colonized by Tulasnella calospora.
abstract: Little is known on the molecular bases of plant-fungal interactions in orchid mycorrhiza. We developed a model system to investigate gene expression in mycorrhizal protocorms of Serapias vomeracea colonised by Tulasnella calospora. Our recent results with a small panel of genes as indicators of plant response to mycorrhizal colonization indicate that genes related with plant defense were not significantly up-regulated in mycorrhizal tissues. Here, we used laser microdissection to investigate whether expression of some orchid genes was restricted to specific cell types. Results showed that SvNod1, a S. vomeracea nodulin-like protein containing a plastocyanin-like domain, is expressed only in protocorm cells containing intracellular fungal hyphae. In addition, we investigated a family of fungal zinc metallopeptidases (M36). This gene family has expanded in the T. calospora genome and RNA-Seq experiments indicate that some members of the M36 metallopeptidases family are differentially regulated in orchid mycorrhizal protocorms.
authors.affiliation: a Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection (IPSP); UOS Torino; CNR Viale Mattioli 25 , Torino , Italy.
authors.forename: Raffaella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Balestrini
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nerva
authors.forename: Fabiano
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sillo
authors.forename: Mariangela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Girlanda
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Perotto
mesh_terms: D001487:Basidiomycota / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D017343:Genes, Plant; D042282:Microdissection; D038821:Mycorrhizae / Q000235:genetics*; D029595:Orchidaceae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
keywords: fungalysins; gene expression; mannose-binding lectins; nodulin genes; orchid protocorm