RNA-seq analysis for soybean cyst nematode resistance of Glycine soja (wild soybean)

Authors: YUAN, CUIPING - University Of Illinois; ZHANG, LING - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; ZHAO, HONGKUN - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; WANG, YUMIN - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; LIU, XIAODONG - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; DONG, YINGSHAN - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; Hartman, Glen

Submitted to: Chinese Journal of Oil Crops Sciences
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/21/2019
Publication Date: 3/20/2019
Citation: Yuan, C., Zhang, L., Zhao, H., Wang, Y., Liu, X., Dong, Y., Hartman, G.L. 2019. RNA-seq analysis for soybean cyst nematode resistance of Glycine soja (wild soybean). Chinese Journal of Oil Crop Sciences. 4(1):32-46.

Interpretive Summary: Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is a major pest of cultivated soybean worldwide. The SCN life cycle consists of five stages. The first molt occurs within the egg, and the second-stage juvenile hatches from the egg into soil and the juvenile infects soybean roots. Once in the roots the juveniles migrate to the vascular cylinder of the root. At that point, the nematode and the plant interact to form a specialized feeding structure that supplies the nutrition to complete the life cycle of the nematode. In this study, gene expression profiles in wild soybean (Glycine soja) in response to SCN infection were profiled at 9, 15 and 20 days-post inoculation by sequencing RNA of SCN resistant and susceptible G. soja. A total of 1,594 differentially expressed genes occurred in roots infected by SCN compared to non-infected roots. Based on the analysis, there were differences in resistant and susceptible accessions for genes related to response stimulus, metabolic processes, and cell wall organization or biogenesis. These results provide a description of the changes in gene expression of G. soja to SCN infection and identified candidate resistance genes in G. soja that may be useful in future studies on gene profiling and gene editing. This research information is important to plant molecular biologists, nematologists, breeders, and others interested in plant resistance to nematodes.

Technical Abstract: To explore genetic resource of wild soybean (Glycine soja. L), RNA-seq was used to investigate cyst nematode resistance of G. soja. Root transcriptome expressions were profiled at 9, 15 and 20 d post inoculation (DPI) in resistant and susceptible G. soja to SCN (soybean cyst nematode). A total of 1,594 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in roots infected by SCN compared with non-infected roots. In the resistant accession, 619, 65, and 8 DEGs were detected at 9, 15, and 20 DPI, respectively, while 327, 460 and 115 DEGs were detected at the same sampling point of susceptible accessions. DEGs were enriched in peroxidase gene sets which were involved in response to oxidative stress and oxidation reduction. Two gene families, ZIM transcription factor and WRKY transcription factor were enriched. WRKY transcription factor was only enriched in resistant accession. Moreover, gene expressions of 9 DEGs were validated by qRT-PCR. XLOC_023202, an unknown protein was up regulated more than 5 fold at 9 and 15 DPI in the resistant accession. These results provided an atlas of gene expressions of G. soja in response to SCN infection, and identified candidate DEGs for future research.