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Baruah IK, Shao J, Ali SS, Schmidt ME, Meinhardt LW, Bailey BA, Cohen SP. Cacao pod transcriptome profiling of seven genotypes identifies features associated with post-penetration resistance to Phytophthora palmivora. Sci Rep 2024; 14:4175. [PMID: 38378988 PMCID: PMC10879190 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-54355-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024] Open
Abstract
The oomycete Phytophthora palmivora infects the fruit of cacao trees (Theobroma cacao) causing black pod rot and reducing yields. Cacao genotypes vary in their resistance levels to P. palmivora, yet our understanding of how cacao fruit respond to the pathogen at the molecular level during disease establishment is limited. To address this issue, disease development and RNA-Seq studies were conducted on pods of seven cacao genotypes (ICS1, WFT, Gu133, Spa9, CCN51, Sca6 and Pound7) to better understand their reactions to the post-penetration stage of P. palmivora infection. The pod tissue-P. palmivora pathogen assay resulted in the genotypes being classified as susceptible (ICS1, WFT, Gu133 and Spa9) or resistant (CCN51, Sca6 and Pound7). The number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) ranged from 1625 to 6957 depending on genotype. A custom gene correlation approach identified 34 correlation groups. De novo motif analysis was conducted on upstream promoter sequences of differentially expressed genes, identifying 76 novel motifs, 31 of which were over-represented in the upstream sequences of correlation groups and associated with gene ontology terms related to oxidative stress response, defense against fungal pathogens, general metabolism and cell function. Genes in one correlation group (Group 6) were strongly induced in all genotypes and enriched in genes annotated with defense-responsive terms. Expression pattern profiling revealed that genes in Group 6 were induced to higher levels in the resistant genotypes. An additional analysis allowed the identification of 17 candidate cis-regulatory modules likely to be involved in cacao defense against P. palmivora. This study is a comprehensive exploration of the cacao pod transcriptional response to P. palmivora spread after infection. We identified cacao genes, promoter motifs, and promoter motif combinations associated with post-penetration resistance to P. palmivora in cacao pods and provide this information as a resource to support future and ongoing efforts to breed P. palmivora-resistant cacao.
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Affiliation(s)
- Indrani K Baruah
- Sustainable Perennial Crops Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA
| | - Jonathan Shao
- Statistics and Bioinformatics Group-Northeast Area, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA
| | - Shahin S Ali
- Sustainable Perennial Crops Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA
- ATCC (American Type Culture Collection), Gaithersburg, MD, 20877, USA
| | - Martha E Schmidt
- Sustainable Perennial Crops Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA
| | - Lyndel W Meinhardt
- Sustainable Perennial Crops Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA
| | - Bryan A Bailey
- Sustainable Perennial Crops Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA
| | - Stephen P Cohen
- Sustainable Perennial Crops Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA.
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Chang X, Yang M, Li H, Wu J, Zhang J, Yin C, Ma W, Chen H, Zhou F, Lin Y. Cloning of the promoter of rice brown planthopper feeding-inducible gene OsTPS31 and identification of related cis-regulatory elements. PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE 2023; 79:1809-1819. [PMID: 36637212 DOI: 10.1002/ps.7356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Revised: 12/15/2022] [Accepted: 01/13/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Brown planthopper (BPH; Nilaparvata lugens) is one of the most serious pests of rice in the world. Insect-resistant genetic engineering is a very effective technology to control BPH. The promoters and cis-regulatory elements inducible by plant-feeding insects are critical for genetic engineering of insect-resistant crops. RESULTS In this study, we cloned a promoter Ptps31 and a 7 bp cis-regulatory sequence that up-regulated downstream genes induced by BPH feeding. The promoter of OsTPS31 (Ptps31) unresponsive to physical damage but responsive to BPH feeding was cloned and functionally verified. The results showed that expression of the OsBPH14 gene driven by the promoter region from -510 to -246 bp in rice could significantly improve the resistance to BPH. The promoter region from -376 to -370 bp (TAGTGTC) was identified as a cis-regulatory sequence related to BPH feeding induction of downstream gene expression. CONCLUSION The findings provide a new promoter and a new cis-regulatory sequence tool for the research on and application of rice BPH resistance genes, as well as a new perspective for functional analysis of the OsTPS31 gene. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinlei Chang
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
| | - Mei Yang
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
| | - Hanpeng Li
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
| | - Jiemin Wu
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
| | - Jianguo Zhang
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
| | - Changxi Yin
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
| | - Weihua Ma
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
| | - Hao Chen
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
| | - Fei Zhou
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
| | - Yongjun Lin
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
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Tonnessen BW, Bossa-Castro AM, Martin F, Leach JE. Intergenic spaces: a new frontier to improving plant health. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2021; 232:1540-1548. [PMID: 34478160 DOI: 10.1111/nph.17706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
To more sustainably mitigate the impact of crop diseases on plant health and productivity, there is a need for broader spectrum, long-lasting resistance traits. Defense response (DR) genes, located throughout the genome, participate in cellular and system-wide defense mechanisms to stave off infection by diverse pathogens. This multigenic resistance avoids rapid evolution of a pathogen to overcome host resistance. DR genes reside within resistance-associated quantitative trait loci (QTL), and alleles of DR genes in resistant varieties are more active during pathogen attack relative to susceptible haplotypes. Differential expression of DR genes results from polymorphisms in their regulatory regions, that includes cis-regulatory elements such as transcription factor binding sites as well as features that influence epigenetic structural changes to modulate chromatin accessibility during infection. Many of these elements are found in clusters, known as cis-regulatory modules (CRMs), which are distributed throughout the host genome. Regulatory regions involved in plant-pathogen interactions may also contain pathogen effector binding elements that regulate DR gene expression, and that, when mutated, result in a change in the plants' response. We posit that CRMs and the multiple regulatory elements that comprise them are potential targets for marker-assisted breeding for broad-spectrum, durable disease resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bradley W Tonnessen
- Department of Agricultural Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
- Western Colorado Research Center, Colorado State University, 30624 Hwy 92, Hotchkiss, CO, 81419, USA
| | - Ana M Bossa-Castro
- Department of Agricultural Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
- Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, 111711, Colombia
| | - Federico Martin
- Department of Agricultural Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
| | - Jan E Leach
- Department of Agricultural Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
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Amas J, Anderson R, Edwards D, Cowling W, Batley J. Status and advances in mining for blackleg (Leptosphaeria maculans) quantitative resistance (QR) in oilseed rape (Brassica napus). TAG. THEORETICAL AND APPLIED GENETICS. THEORETISCHE UND ANGEWANDTE GENETIK 2021; 134:3123-3145. [PMID: 34104999 PMCID: PMC8440254 DOI: 10.1007/s00122-021-03877-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2021] [Accepted: 05/29/2021] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
KEY MESSAGE Quantitative resistance (QR) loci discovered through genetic and genomic analyses are abundant in the Brassica napus genome, providing an opportunity for their utilization in enhancing blackleg resistance. Quantitative resistance (QR) has long been utilized to manage blackleg in Brassica napus (canola, oilseed rape), even before major resistance genes (R-genes) were extensively explored in breeding programmes. In contrast to R-gene-mediated qualitative resistance, QR reduces blackleg symptoms rather than completely eliminating the disease. As a polygenic trait, QR is controlled by numerous genes with modest effects, which exerts less pressure on the pathogen to evolve; hence, its effectiveness is more durable compared to R-gene-mediated resistance. Furthermore, combining QR with major R-genes has been shown to enhance resistance against diseases in important crops, including oilseed rape. For these reasons, there has been a renewed interest among breeders in utilizing QR in crop improvement. However, the mechanisms governing QR are largely unknown, limiting its deployment. Advances in genomics are facilitating the dissection of the genetic and molecular underpinnings of QR, resulting in the discovery of several loci and genes that can be potentially deployed to enhance blackleg resistance. Here, we summarize the efforts undertaken to identify blackleg QR loci in oilseed rape using linkage and association analysis. We update the knowledge on the possible mechanisms governing QR and the advances in searching for the underlying genes. Lastly, we lay out strategies to accelerate the genetic improvement of blackleg QR in oilseed rape using improved phenotyping approaches and genomic prediction tools.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junrey Amas
- School of Biological Sciences and The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6001 Australia
| | - Robyn Anderson
- School of Biological Sciences and The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6001 Australia
| | - David Edwards
- School of Biological Sciences and The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6001 Australia
| | - Wallace Cowling
- School of Agriculture and Environment and The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009 Australia
| | - Jacqueline Batley
- School of Biological Sciences and The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6001 Australia
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Ksouri N, Castro-Mondragón JA, Montardit-Tarda F, van Helden J, Contreras-Moreira B, Gogorcena Y. Tuning promoter boundaries improves regulatory motif discovery in nonmodel plants: the peach example. PLANT PHYSIOLOGY 2021; 185:1242-1258. [PMID: 33744946 PMCID: PMC8133646 DOI: 10.1093/plphys/kiaa091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
The identification of functional elements encoded in plant genomes is necessary to understand gene regulation. Although much attention has been paid to model species like Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), little is known about regulatory motifs in other plants. Here, we describe a bottom-up approach for de novo motif discovery using peach (Prunus persica) as an example. These predictions require pre-computed gene clusters grouped by their expression similarity. After optimizing the boundaries of proximal promoter regions, two motif discovery algorithms from RSAT::Plants (http://plants.rsat.eu) were tested (oligo and dyad analysis). Overall, 18 out of 45 co-expressed modules were enriched in motifs typical of well-known transcription factor (TF) families (bHLH, bZip, BZR, CAMTA, DOF, E2FE, AP2-ERF, Myb-like, NAC, TCP, and WRKY) and a few uncharacterized motifs. Our results indicate that small modules and promoter window of [-500 bp, +200 bp] relative to the transcription start site (TSS) maximize the number of motifs found and reduce low-complexity signals in peach. The distribution of discovered regulatory sites was unbalanced, as they accumulated around the TSS. This approach was benchmarked by testing two different expression-based clustering algorithms (network-based and hierarchical) and, as control, genes grouped for harboring ChIPseq peaks of the same Arabidopsis TF. The method was also verified on maize (Zea mays), a species with a large genome. In summary, this article presents a glimpse of the peach regulatory components at genome scale and provides a general protocol that can be applied to other species. A Docker software container is released to facilitate the reproduction of these analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Najla Ksouri
- Laboratory of Genomics, Genetics and Breeding of Fruits and Grapevine, Estación Experimental de Aula Dei-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Jaime A Castro-Mondragón
- Aix-Marseille Univ, INSERM UMR_S 1090, Theory and Approaches of Genome Complexity (TAGC), F-13288 Marseille, France
- Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway (NCMM), Nordic EMBL Partnership, University of Oslo, 0318 Oslo, Norway
| | - Francesc Montardit-Tarda
- Laboratory of Genomics, Genetics and Breeding of Fruits and Grapevine, Estación Experimental de Aula Dei-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Jacques van Helden
- Aix-Marseille Univ, INSERM UMR_S 1090, Theory and Approaches of Genome Complexity (TAGC), F-13288 Marseille, France
- CNRS, Institut Français de Bioinformatique, IFB-core, UMS 3601, Evry, France
| | - Bruno Contreras-Moreira
- Laboratory of Computational and Structural Biology, Department of Genetics and Plant Production, Estación Experimental de Aula Dei–Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Zaragoza, Spain
- Fundación ARAID, Zaragoza, Spain
- Present address: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SD, UK
| | - Yolanda Gogorcena
- Laboratory of Genomics, Genetics and Breeding of Fruits and Grapevine, Estación Experimental de Aula Dei-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Zaragoza, Spain
- Author for communication:
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