Transcriptome Dynamics in Triticum aestivum Genotypes Associated with Resistance against the Wheat Dwarf Virus

Abdoallah Sharaf; Przemysław Nuc; Jan Ripl; Glenda Alquicer; Emad Ibrahim; Xifeng Wang; Midatharahally N Maruthi; Jiban Kumar Kundu

doi:10.3390/v15030689

Transcriptome Dynamics in Triticum aestivum Genotypes Associated with Resistance against the Wheat Dwarf Virus

Viruses. 2023 Mar 6;15(3):689. doi: 10.3390/v15030689.

Authors

Abdoallah Sharaf¹, Przemysław Nuc¹, Jan Ripl¹, Glenda Alquicer¹, Emad Ibrahim¹, Xifeng Wang², Midatharahally N Maruthi³, Jiban Kumar Kundu¹

Affiliations

¹ Plant Virus and Vector Interactions, Centre for Plant Virus Research, Crop Research Institute, 16106 Prague, Czech Republic.
² State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
³ Agriculture, Health and Environment Department, Natural Resources Institute, Medway Campus, University of Greenwich, Chatham, Kent ME4 4TB, UK.

Abstract

Wheat dwarf virus (WDV) is one of the most important pathogens of cereal crops worldwide. To understand the molecular mechanism of resistance, here we investigated the comparative transcriptome of wheat genotypes with different levels of resistance (Svitava and Fengyou 3) and susceptibility (Akteur) to WDV. We found a significantly higher number of differentially expressed transcripts (DETs) in the susceptible genotype than in the resistant one (e.g., Svitava). The number of downregulated transcripts was also higher in the susceptible genotype than in the resistant one (Svitava) and the opposite was true for the upregulated transcripts. Further functional analysis of gene ontology (GO) enrichment identified a total of 114 GO terms for the DETs. Of these, 64 biological processes, 28 cellular components and 22 molecular function GO terms were significantly enriched. A few of these genes appear to have a specific expression pattern related to resistance or susceptibility to WDV infection. Validation of the expression pattern by RT-qPCR showed that glycosyltransferase was significantly downregulated in the susceptible genotype compared to the resistant genotypes after WDV infection, while CYCLIN-T1-3, a regulator of CDK kinases (cyclin-dependent kinase), was upregulated. On the other hand, the expression pattern of the transcription factor (TF) MYB (TraesCS4B02G174600.2; myeloblastosis domain of transcription factor) was downregulated by WDV infection in the resistant genotypes compared to the susceptible genotype, while a large number of TFs belonging to 54 TF families were differentially expressed due to WDV infection. In addition, two transcripts (TraesCS7A02G341400.1 and TraesCS3B02G239900.1) were upregulated with uncharacterised proteins involved in transport and regulation of cell growth, respectively. Altogether, our findings showed a clear gene expression profile associated with resistance or susceptibility of wheat to WDV. In future studies, we will explore the regulatory network within the same experiment context. This knowledge will broaden not only the future for the development of virus-resistant wheat genotypes but also the future of genetic improvement of cereals for resilience and WDV-resistance breeding.

Keywords: RNA-seq; WDV; genotype; resistance; transcriptome; virus; wheat.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Genotype
Humans
Plant Breeding
Plant Diseases / genetics
Transcriptome*
Triticum* / genetics

Supplementary concepts

Wheat dwarf virus

Grants and funding

The work was supported by the project no. Mze RO0418 from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Czech Republic and a bilateral Czech-China project Inter-Action no. LTACH17010 from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic. J.K.K. was also supported by OP-EU Operational Programme project no. CZ.02.2.69/0.0/0.0/18_053/0016953 (visiting scientist at the Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, U.K.) from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic.