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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Ithaca, New York » Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture & Health » Emerging Pests and Pathogens Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #348837
Research Project: Characterization of Molecular Networks in Diseases Caused by Emerging and Persistent Bacterial Plant Pathogens

Location: Emerging Pests and Pathogens Research

Title: Expression patterns of plant defense genes during early stem infection of susceptible and tolerant potatoes by Dickeya dadantii

Author
item LIU, YINGYU - Cornell University
item POULIN, CALLUM - Cornell University
item Filiatrault, Melanie

Submitted to: International Congress of Plant Pathology Abstracts and Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/27/2018
Publication Date: 7/11/2018
Citation: Liu, Y., Poulin, C., Filiatrault, M.J. 2018. Expression patterns of plant defense genes during early stem infection of susceptible and tolerant potatoes by Dickeya dadantii. International Congress of Plant Pathology Abstracts and Proceedings. 1167-P.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Dickeya spp. are necrotrophic bacterial pathogens that cause blackleg disease in potatoes. Blackleg disease has resulted in significant economic losses in the United States since 2015 and continues to devastate the potato industry. Breeding for resistance to blackleg in potato cultivars is difficult due to the limited understanding of genetic mechanisms of host-microbe interactions in this pathosystem. To better understand the plant defense response to Dickeya, quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reactions (qRT PCR) were performed with the cDNA library prepared from the total RNA. These RNAs were extracted from susceptible or tolerant diploid potato stems inoculated with D. dadantii 3937 or mock buffer at 0 and 12-hours post inoculation. qRT-PCR experiments between mock and D. dadantii inoculated potatoes revealed changes in expression patterns of genes related to plant defense activation, including pathogen-associated molecular pattern-triggered immunity hallmark genes (Pti5, Gras2, Lrr22), the flagellin receptor gene (FLS2), a salicylic acid regulated gene (PR1), and a jasmonic acid dependent gene (TPI-1). Differential expression of these genes could contribute to the tolerance or susceptibility of the two potato lines to Dickeya spp. Our study of targeted potato defense genes expression patterns provides novel information regarding plant defense mechanisms in the Dickeya-potato pathosystem at an early infection stage.