title: The Fusarium crown rot pathogen Fusarium pseudograminearum triggers a suite of transcriptional and metabolic changes in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).
abstract: Fusarium crown rot caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium pseudograminearum is a disease of wheat and barley, bearing significant economic cost. Efforts to develop effective resistance to this disease have been hampered by the quantitative nature of resistance and a lack of understanding of the factors associated with resistance and susceptibility. Here, we aimed to dissect transcriptional responses triggered in wheat by F. pseudograminearum infection.
  
  
  
  We used an RNA-seq approach to analyse host responses during a compatible interaction and identified >2700 wheat genes differentially regulated after inoculation with F. pseudograminearum . The production of a few key metabolites and plant hormones in the host during the interaction was also analysed.
  
  
  
  Analysis of gene ontology enrichment showed that a disproportionate number of genes involved in primary and secondary metabolism, signalling and transport were differentially expressed in infected seedlings. A number of genes encoding pathogen-responsive uridine-diphosphate glycosyltransferases (UGTs) potentially involved in detoxification of the Fusarium mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) were differentially expressed. Using a F. pseudograminearum DON-non-producing mutant, DON was shown to play an important role in virulence during Fusarium crown rot. An over-representation of genes involved in the phenylalanine, tryptophan and tyrosine biosynthesis pathways was observed. This was confirmed through metabolite analyses that demonstrated tryptamine and serotonin levels are induced after F. pseudograminearum inoculation.
  
  
  
  Overall, the observed host response in bread wheat to F. pseudograminearum during early infection exhibited enrichment of processes related to pathogen perception, defence signalling, transport and metabolism and deployment of chemical and enzymatic defences. Additional functional analyses of candidate genes should reveal their roles in disease resistance or susceptibility. Better understanding of host responses contributing to resistance and/or susceptibility will aid the development of future disease improvement strategies against this important plant pathogen.
authors.affiliation: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Agriculture, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St Lucia, 4067 Queensland, Australia.|Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, University of Queensland, 4072, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Jonathan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.affiliation: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Agriculture, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St Lucia, 4067 Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carere
authors.affiliation: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Agriculture, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St Lucia, 4067 Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Timothy L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
authors.affiliation: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Agriculture, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St Lucia, 4067 Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Jiri
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stiller
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno 74, 06121 Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Covarelli
authors.affiliation: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Agriculture, Black Mountain, Australian Capital Territory, 2610, Australia.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Agriculture, Black Mountain, Australian Capital Territory, 2610, Australia.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gubler
authors.affiliation: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Agriculture, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St Lucia, 4067 Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Michelle L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Colgrave
authors.affiliation: Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, University of Queensland, 4072, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Donald M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Gardiner
authors.affiliation: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Agriculture, Black Mountain, Australian Capital Territory, 2610, Australia.
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Manners
authors.affiliation: Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, University of Queensland, 4072, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Henry
authors.affiliation: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Agriculture, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St Lucia, 4067 Queensland, Australia.|Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, University of Queensland, 4072, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Kemal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kazan
mesh_terms: D005670:Fusarium / Q000502:physiology*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014255:Trichothecenes / Q000378:metabolism*; D014908:Triticum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D014255:Trichothecenes; C007262:deoxynivalenol
keywords: Fusarium; RNA-seq; Tri5; Wheat; biotic stress; deoxynivalenol; jasmonate; salicylic acid; secologanin; serotonin