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ARS Home » Midwest Area » West Lafayette, Indiana » Crop Production and Pest Control Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #384420
Research Project: Molecular Mechanisms of Host-Fungal Pathogen Interactions in Cereal Crops

Location: Crop Production and Pest Control Research

Title: Identifying Specificity Mechanisms in Zymoseptoria tritici in Host and Non-Host interactions

Author
item GOMEZ, SANDRA - PURDUE UNIVERSITY
item Goodwin, Stephen - Steve

Submitted to: American Phytopathological Society Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/28/2021
Publication Date: 9/24/2021
Citation: Gomez, S.V., Goodwin, S.B. 2021. Identifying Specificity Mechanisms in Zymoseptoria tritici in Host and Non-Host interactions. American Phytopathological Society Abstracts. 12:671323. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.671323.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.671323

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Wheat is the second-most important cereal crop, grown by 30 million farmers worldwide. It is affected by Zymoseptoria tritici, the cause of Septoria tritici blotch. This disease has an asymptomatic stage for 1–13 days, followed by a rapid transition to necrotrophy. The lifestyle of Z. tritici makes this pathogen an attractive model to investigate infection phase-specific gene expression, and host-pathogen specificity mechanisms in compatible, incompatible and non-host interactions. Differential gene expression and KEGG pathway enrichment were determined in Z. tritici during a compatible interaction with the susceptible cultivar Taichung 29, two incompatible interactions with the resistant cultivars Veranopolis (Stb2) and Israel 493 (Stb3), and one non-host interaction with barley. Differential gene expression was calculated at 1, 3, 6, 10, 17 and 23 days after inoculation (DAI). The highest number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) was observed at 10 DAI in the compatible interaction compared to the incompatible interactions with Veranopolis and Israel 483. This suggests that Z. tritici activated genes to initiate and maintain the necrotrophic lifestyle around 10 DAI. The enriched pathways from 10 to 23 DAI were biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and antibiotics, and protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum. More DEGs were obtained at 3 DAI in the compatible and incompatible interactions compared to the non-host. This suggests that 3 DAI is the point at which the fungus recognizes the plant as a host and activates specific genes to trigger subsequent responses.