title: Effect of prior drought and pathogen stress on Arabidopsis transcriptome changes to caterpillar herbivory.
abstract: In nature, plants are exposed to biotic and abiotic stresses that often occur simultaneously. Therefore, plant responses to combinations of stresses are most representative of how plants respond to stresses. We used RNAseq to assess temporal changes in the transcriptome of Arabidopsis thaliana to herbivory by Pieris rapae caterpillars, either alone or in combination with prior exposure to drought or infection with the necrotrophic fungus Botrytis cinerea. Pre-exposure to drought stress or Botrytis infection resulted in a significantly different timing of the caterpillar-induced transcriptional changes. Additionally, the combination of drought and P. rapae induced an extensive downregulation of A. thaliana genes involved in defence against pathogens. Despite a more substantial growth reduction observed for plants exposed to drought plus P. rapae feeding compared with P. rapae feeding alone, this did not affect weight increase of this specialist caterpillar. Plants respond to combined stresses with phenotypic and transcriptional changes that differ from the single stress situation. The effect of a previous exposure to drought or B. cinerea infection on transcriptional changes to caterpillars is largely overridden by the stress imposed by caterpillars, indicating that plants shift their response to the most recent stress applied.
authors: Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University, PO Box 16, 6700 AA, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
authors: Nelson H
authors: NH
authors: Davila Olivas
authors: Plant-Microbe Interactions, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, PO Box 800.56, 3508 TB, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
authors: Silvia
authors: S
authors: Coolen
authors: Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University, PO Box 16, 6700 AA, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
authors: Pingping
authors: P
authors: Huang
authors: Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University, PO Box 16, 6700 AA, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
authors: Edouard
authors: E
authors: Severing
authors: Plant-Microbe Interactions, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, PO Box 800.56, 3508 TB, Utrecht, the Netherlands.|Bioinformatics, Utrecht University, PO Box 800.56, 3508 TB, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
authors: Marcel C
authors: MC
authors: van Verk
authors: Plant-Microbe Interactions, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, PO Box 800.56, 3508 TB, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
authors: Richard
authors: R
authors: Hickman
authors: Keygene N.V., PO Box 216, 6700 AE, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
authors: Alexander H J
authors: AH
authors: Wittenberg
authors: Keygene N.V., PO Box 216, 6700 AE, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
authors: Martin
authors: M
authors: de Vos
authors: Keygene N.V., PO Box 216, 6700 AE, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
authors: Marcel
authors: M
authors: Prins
authors: Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University, PO Box 16, 6700 AA, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
authors: Joop J A
authors: JJ
authors: van Loon
authors: Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University, PO Box 16, 6700 AA, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
authors: Mark G M
authors: 0000-0001-5257-0740
authors: MG
authors: Aarts
authors: Plant-Microbe Interactions, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, PO Box 800.56, 3508 TB, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
authors: Saskia C M
authors: SC
authors: van Wees
authors: Plant-Microbe Interactions, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, PO Box 800.56, 3508 TB, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
authors: Corné M J
authors: CM
authors: Pieterse
authors: Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University, PO Box 16, 6700 AA, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
authors: Marcel
authors: M
authors: Dicke
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D020171:Botrytis / Q000502:physiology; D002080:Butterflies / Q000502:physiology; D055864:Droughts; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D060434:Herbivory; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D059467:Transcriptome
keywords: Botrytis cinerea; Pieris rapae; RNAseq; abiotic stress; combined stresses; insect herbivory; multiple stresses; transcriptome