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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Crop Bioprotection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #373040
Research Project: Development of New Production Methodologies for Biocontrol Agents and Fastidious Microbes to Improve Plant Disease Management

Location: Crop Bioprotection Research

Title: Differential expression of genes encoding sugar transporters in the basil pathogen Peronospora belbahrii

Author
item Johnson, Eric
item QUESADA-OCAMPO, LINA - North Carolina State University
item TIAN, MIAOYING - University Of Hawaii

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/12/2020
Publication Date: 8/12/2020
Citation: Johnson, E.T., Quesada-Ocampo, L., Tian, M. 2020. Differential expression of genes encoding sugar transporters in the basil pathogen Peronospora belbahrii. Meeting Abstract. [abstract].

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Carbohydrate transport is an essential function for obligate pathogens such as Peronospora belbahrii, which infects sweet basil. Little is known about how P. belbahrii transports sugars from its host or within mycelium. To gain a better understanding of sugar transport in this pathogen we utilized bioinformatic methods to identify 15 sugar transporter and 6 SWEET genes in the P. belbahrii genome. Full length mRNAs for several of these genes were identified in transcriptome datasets of the pathogen infecting basil in Hawaii, Illinois, and North Carolina. Only 4 of the identified genes were expressed in plants at each location, while 6 genes were expressed at some locations, but not others. PbST12 was the most highly expressed sugar transporter gene, with transcript levels comparable to that of the enolase gene in the samples from Illinois and Hawaii, and to the tubulin B gene in the samples from North Carolina. These results indicate that many of the putative sugar transporter genes likely contribute to the infection and propagation of this pathogen. Some of the genes may be promising candidates for host induced gene silencing that could help reduce damage caused by basil downy mildew.