Transcriptome Analysis of Brassica juncea and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum Interactions
Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, a highly destructive phytopathogen with a broad host range, causes significant damage to various food and vegetable crops. Understanding the host-pathogen interaction is crucial for developing effective control strategies against this pathogen. In this study, we examined transcriptomic changes from lesions caused by S. sclerotiorum virulent isolate PAU on resistant and susceptible pools, which were bulked from Brassica juncea recombinant inbred lines, 24 hours post-inoculation, alongside control. The transcriptional dynamics between these two pools was characterized using Gene Ontology enrichment and KEGG pathway analysis. Transcriptome data analysis of S. sclerotiorum infected stem tissue revealed that 3627 and 10524 number of B. juncea DEGs uniquely expressed in the R and S pool, as well as 1807 no. of DEGs commonly expressed in the shared regions between the two pools after 24hpi. Our findings highlight several differentially expressed genes with potential roles in physiological functions and metabolic pathways including response to wounding, systemic acquired resistance, response to oxidative stress, osmotic stress, defense response to fungus, signal transduction, and response to jasmonic acid. Additionally, key virulence-related genes, including those encoding polygalacturonase, chitin synthase, and enzymes involved in oxalic acid biosynthesis, were significantly upregulated at 24 hpi. The present investigation identified valuable candidate genes and pathways, providing new insights into the molecular mechanism underlying the B. juncea-S. sclerotiorum pathosystem and contributing to a better understanding of host-pathogen interactions.