Differential Response of Grapevine to Infection with ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma solani’ in Early and Late Growing Season through Complex Regulation of mRNA and Small RNA Transcriptomes


Citation
Dermastia et al. (2021). International Journal of Molecular Sciences 22 (7)
Names (1)
Ca. Phytoplasma solani
Subjects
Catalysis Computer Science Applications General Medicine Inorganic Chemistry Molecular Biology Organic Chemistry Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Spectroscopy
Abstract
Bois noir is the most widespread phytoplasma grapevine disease in Europe. It is associated with ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma solani’, but molecular interactions between the causal pathogen and its host plant are not well understood. In this work, we combined the analysis of high-throughput RNA-Seq and sRNA-Seq data with interaction network analysis for finding new cross-talks among pathways involved in infection of grapevine cv. Zweigelt with ‘Ca. P. solani’ in early and late growing seasons. While the early growing season was very dynamic at the transcriptional level in asymptomatic grapevines, the regulation at the level of small RNAs was more pronounced later in the season when symptoms developed in infected grapevines. Most differentially expressed small RNAs were associated with biotic stress. Our study also exposes the less-studied role of hormones in disease development and shows that hormonal balance was already perturbed before symptoms development in infected grapevines. Analysis at the level of communities of genes and mRNA-microRNA interaction networks revealed several new genes (e.g., expansins and cryptdin) that have not been associated with phytoplasma pathogenicity previously. These novel actors may present a new reference framework for research and diagnostics of phytoplasma diseases of grapevine.
Authors
Publication date
2021-03-29
DOI
10.3390/ijms22073531