Armillaria sinapina, a fungal pathogen of primary timber species of North American forests, causes white root rot disease that ultimately kills the trees. A more detailed understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying this illness will support future developments on disease resistance and management, as well as in the decomposition of cellulosic material for further use. In this study, RNA-Seq technology was used to compare the transcriptome profiles of A. sinapina fungal culture grown in yeast malt broth medium supplemented or not with betulin, a natural compound of the terpenoid group found in abundance in white birch bark. This was done to identify enzyme transcripts involved in the metabolism (redox reaction) of betulin into betulinic acid, a potent anticancer drug. De novo assembly and characterization of A. sinapina transcriptome was performed using Illumina technology. A total of 170,592,464 reads were generated, then 273,561 transcripts were characterized. Approximately, 53% of transcripts could be identified using public databases with several metabolic pathways represented. A total of 11 transcripts involved in terpenoid biosynthesis were identified. In addition, 25 gene transcripts that could play a significant role in lignin degradation were uncovered, as well as several redox enzymes of the cytochromes P450 family. To our knowledge, this research is the first transcriptomic study carried out on A. sinapina.
Keywords: Armillaria sinapina; RNA-Seq; betulin; de novo assembly; fungi; plant pathogen; terpenoid; transcriptomic; white birch; white rot disease.