Transcriptome analysis of leave samples in Arabidopsis seedlings whose roots were inoculated with Trichoderma or treated with chitin
Chitin application into soils and root colonization of beneficial fungi induce the same systemic responses in plants: growth promotion and disease resistance. Since plants can sense the presence of fungi via the perception of chitin molecules, these systemic responses caused by beneficial fungi would depend on chitin recognition. To address this hypothesis, in this study, we compared transcriptomes of leave samples in Arabidopsis seedlings whose roots were inoculated with Trichoderma or treated with chitin using RNA-seq. For Trichoderma inoculation, the fungal suspension was irrigated into soils 2 weeks after sowing, and then Arabidopsis seedlings were grown for an additional 5 weeks. For chitin treatment, the culture soil was mixed with an equal volume of 0.1% (w/v) chitin nanofiber water dispersion before sowing, and then Arabidopsis seedlings were grown for 7 weeks. Distilled water was treated for mixing with culture soil as control experiments. All leaf samples were harvested in triplicate containing leaves from independent 3 seedlings.