Comparative transcriptomic analysis highlights contrasting levels of resistance of Vitis vinifera and Vitis amurensis to Botrytis cinerea

Abstract

Botrytis cinerea is a major grapevine (Vitis spp.) pathogen, but some genotypes differ in their degree of resistance. For example, the Vitis vinifera cultivar Red Globe (RG) is highly susceptible, but V. amurensis Rupr Shuangyou (SY) is highly resistant. Here, we used RNA sequencing analysis to characterize the transcriptome responses of these two genotypes to B. cinerea inoculation at an early infection stage. Approximately a quarter of the genes in RG presented significant changes in transcript levels during infection, the number of which was greater than that in the SY leaves. The genes differentially expressed between infected leaves of SY and RG included those associated with cell surface structure, oxidation, cell death and C/N metabolism. We found evidence that an imbalance in the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and redox homeostasis probably contributed to the susceptibility of RG to B. cinerea. SY leaves had strong antioxidant capacities and improved ROS homeostasis following infection. Regulatory network prediction suggested that WRKY and MYB transcription factors are associated with the abscisic acid pathway. Weighted gene correlation network analysis highlighted preinfection features of SY that might contribute to its increased resistance. Moreover, overexpression of VaWRKY10 in Arabidopsis thaliana and V. vinifera Thompson Seedless enhanced resistance to B. cinerea. Collectively, our study provides a high-resolution view of the transcriptional changes of grapevine in response to B. cinerea infection and novel insights into the underlying resistance mechanisms.

Screening of cold hardiness-related indexes and establishment of a comprehensive evaluation method for grapevines (V. vinifera)

“…There are many V. vinifera cultivars and the cold hardiness of different varieties varies, with few V. vinifera varieties are suitable for cultivation in any specific country or region ( Zhan and Li, 2010 ; Wang et al., 2021b ). Most research on V. vinifera has focused on cultivation management ( Ju et al., 2019 ; Yue et al., 2020 ; Wang et al., 2021a ; Yue et al., 2021 ), fruit quality regulation ( Bohan et al., 2020 ; Li et al., 2021 ; Yang N. et al., 2021 ), wine-making characteristics ( Sun et al., 2021 ; Wei et al., 2022 ), grape and wine nutrition ( Cheng et al., 2021 ; Xu et al., 2021 ; Yang C. et al., 2021 ), and hardiness improvement ( Liu R. et al., 2021 ; Wan et al., 2021 ; Wang X. et al., 2021 ; Wang et al., 2021c ; Wang et al., 2022 ), but there has been little comprehensive work to determine the most appropriate methods for the evaluation of cold hardiness in V. vinifera . Most methods used thus far to investigate cold hardiness are relatively simple methods that are not targeted, so the results obtained using different cold hardiness evaluation methods will be different ( He, 2015 ).…”

Comparative transcriptome analysis of resistant and susceptible Kentucky bluegrass varieties in response to powdery mildew infection

“…RNA-Seq transcriptome sequencing technology represents a comprehensive and accurate method for studying potential genes and gene regulatory networks mediated by plants response to abiotic stress [43]. Wan et al [44] determined the time of transcriptome sampling by observing the colonization of spores in leaves and analyzed the disease resistance in combination with the physiological changes of leaves during this time period. Considering the time specificity of transcriptome analysis, in this study, we used RNA-Seq sequencing technology, and selected selected the leaves without pathogen inoculation as the control group and the leaves on the 5th day after inoculation as the treatment group, in order to analyze the molecular mechanisms underlying the responses of two bluegrasses to powdery mildew infection at the physiological and transcriptomic levels and identify the metabolic pathways and genes associated with disease resistance.…”

“…Referred to the method of Wan et al . [ 44 ], we combined the greater differences in the phenotypes and physiological indexes of two varieties to determine the time point for transcriptome analysis on the 5th day after inoculation, randomly collected 1.0 g leaves from the resistant variety ‘BlackJack’ and the susceptible variety ‘EverGlade’, and used the water treatment without inoculation treatment in the same period as the control, each variety was set with 3 biological replicates. They were labeled as ‘BlackJack’ control group (BCK), ‘BlackJack’ treatment group (BT), ‘EverGlade’ control group (ECK) and ‘EverGlade’ treatment group (ET).…”

Different scales of gene duplications occurring at different times have jointly shaped the NBS-LRR genes in Prunus species

“…Previous studies have shown that DEGs mainly play a role in perception, signal transduction, secondary metabolism, transcriptional regulation and plant–pathogen interactions (Gervasi et al 2018 ; Ma et al 2020 ; Wan et al 2021 ). Among the two genotypes of flax ( Linum usitatissimium L.), the upregulated genes in the resistant cultivar to Fusarium oxysporum were significantly higher than those in the susceptible cultivar (Dmitriev et al 2017 ).…”