Phytophthora capsici causes damage on many plants species, and secretes various pectin methylesterases during all stages of infection. We identified nine Pme genes (Pcpme 1-9) from a genomic library of highly virulent P. capsici strain SD33 and further analyzed the expression pattern of nine genes on three hosts: pepper, tomato, and cucumber using qRT-PCR during all stages of infection. All nine genes were found to be differentially expressed in three host species in the course of P. capsici interaction. The expression levels of the respective genes increased from 1 to 7 dpi in pepper, while most genes presented a decreasing trend of expression from 1 to 5 dpi in tomato fruits. However, in both fruits peaks were reached at 7 dpi. In cucumber fruits, each gene showed minor expression levels from 1 to 3 dpi, exhibited definite peaks at 5 dpi, and then decreased from 5 to 7 dpi. Thus, evidence from our studies of Pcpme gene expression in different plants at a rang of time points suggests that the late stages of infection may represent the most critical time for P. capsici to successfully express or/and secret PMEs.
Phytophthora spp. is a primary pathogen in oomycete, causing economically and environmentally devastating epidemics of plants. Laccases have been found in all domains of life but have not been reported in oomycte. In this paper, laccase genes of Phytophthora spp. were identified in three genomes (Phytophthora capsici, Phytophthora sojae and Phytophthora ramorum). 18 laccase genes were identified in total, including four in P. capsici genome, six in P. sojae genome and eight in P. ramorum genome. Most of the predicted gene models shared typical fungal laccase character, possessing three conserved positions with one cysteine and ten histidine residues at these positions. Phylogenetic analysis illustrated that laccases from Phytophthora clustered into four clades, while fungal laccases clustered together. The results provided the theoretical ground for new hypotheses about the roles laccases in oomycetes and may guide the future research of these enzymes.
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