Comparative transcriptomics identifies the key in planta-expressed genes of Fusarium graminearum during infection of wheat varieties

Qiang Tu; Lirong Wang; Qi An; Jie Shuai; Xiaobo Xia; Yifan Dong; Xu Zhang; Gang Li; Yi He

doi:10.3389/fgene.2023.1166832

Comparative transcriptomics identifies the key in planta-expressed genes of Fusarium graminearum during infection of wheat varieties

Front Genet. 2023 Apr 18:14:1166832. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2023.1166832. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Qiang Tu^{1

2}, Lirong Wang^{1

2}, Qi An^{1

2}, Jie Shuai^{1

2}, Xiaobo Xia³, Yifan Dong¹, Xu Zhang¹, Gang Li³, Yi He^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ CIMMYT-JAAS Joint Center for Wheat Diseases, The Research Center of Wheat Scab, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, China.
² School of Life Sciences and Engineering, Wheat Research Institute, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, Sichuan, China.
³ Department of Plant Pathology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
⁴ Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.

Abstract

Fusarium head blight (FHB), caused mainly by the fungus Fusarium graminearum, is one of the most devastating diseases in wheat, which reduces the yield and quality of grain. Fusarium graminearum infection of wheat cells triggers dynamic changes of gene expression in both F. graminearum and wheat, leading to molecular interactions between pathogen and host. The wheat plant in turn activates immune signaling or host defense pathways against FHB. However, the mechanisms by which F. graminearum infects wheat varieties with different levels of host resistance are largely limited. In this study, we conducted a comparative analysis of the F. graminearum transcriptome in planta during the infection of susceptible and resistant wheat varieties at three timepoints. A total of 6,106 F. graminearum genes including those functioning in cell wall degradation, synthesis of secondary metabolites, virulence, and pathogenicity were identified during the infection of different hosts, which were regulated by hosts with different genetic backgrounds. Genes enriched with metabolism of host cell wall components and defense response processes were specifically dynamic during the infection with different hosts. Our study also identified F. graminearum genes that were specifically suppressed by signals derived from the resistant plant host. These genes may represent direct targets of the plant defense against infection by this fungus. Briefly, we generated databases of in planta-expressed genes of F. graminearum during infection of two different FHB resistance level wheat varieties, highlighted their dynamic expression patterns and functions of virulence, invasion, defense response, metabolism, and effector signaling, providing valuable insight into the interactions between F. graminearum and susceptible/resistant wheat varieties.

Keywords: F. graminearum; Fusarium head blight; gene expression; resistance; susceptibility; transcriptome; wheat.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by Jiangsu Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Fund (CX (22)2005), the Jiangsu key R and D plan (Modern Agriculture) (BE2022337; BE2021375), China Agricultural Research System Program (CARS-03), and a start-up grant from Nanjing Agricultural University (to GL).