GSE159726
Comparative transcriptomic analysis of races 1, 2 5 and 6 of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. pisi in a susceptible pea host identifies differential pathogenicity profiles
Background: The fungal pathogen, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. pisi (Fop) causes fusarium wilt in peas. Races 1, 2, 5 and 6 are responsible for the majority of the economic losses globally. These are the only races present in Australia. Molecular infection mechanisms have been studied in a few other F. oxysporum formae speciales however, there has been no Fop-pea pathosystem studies. Results: A transcriptomic study was carried out to understand the molecular pathogenicity differences between the races. Transcript analysis revealed differences in the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the Fop races, potentially involved in fungal pathogenicity variations. Most of the DEGs in all the races were engaged in transportation, metabolism, oxidation-reduction, translation, biosynthetic processes, signal transduction, proteolysis, among others. Race 5 expressed the most virulence-associated genes. Most genes encoding for plant cell wall degrading enzymes,  CAZymes and effector-like proteins were expressed in race 2. Race 6 had expressed the least number of genes during infection. Conclusion: Fop races deploy various factors and complex strategies to mitigate host defences to facilitate colonisation. This investigation provides an overview of the putative pathogenicity genes in different Fop races during infection. These genes need to be functionally characterised to confirm their pathogenicity/virulence roles and the race-specific genes can be further explored for molecular characterisation. Overall design: 48 samples