Fungal transcriptomics

Abstract

We have now entered in the post-genomic era, where we have knowledge of plethora of fungal genomes and cutting edge technology is available to study global mRNA, protein and metabolite profiles. These so-called 'omic' technologies (transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics) provide the possibility to characterize plant-pathogen interactions and pathogenesis at molecular level. This article provides an overview of transcriptomics and its applications in fungal plant pathology.

Proteomic profiling of Botrytis cinerea conidial germination

“…Only a few proteomic approaches concerning the germination process have been reported (Noir et al 2009) describing the first annotated proteome map of ungerminated conidiospores of Blumeria graminis f.sp hordei, the causal agent of powdery mildew in barley, concluding that spores are equipped with the complete molecular machinery to trigger the germination process on a suitable host surface, since most of the identified proteins in these ungerminated conidiospores are involved in carbohydrate, lipid and protein metabolism. Comparative proteomic approaches to the study of germination process have allowed to highlight the key role of the transcriptional regulator COM1 in reprogramming genes implicated in melanin biosynthesis, carbon and energy metabolism and others cellular processes indispensable for conidia development and appressoria penetration in Magnaporthe oryzae (Bhadauria et al 2007). Recently, a first comprehensive study of the proteome during the early stage of the Colletotrichum acutatum conidial germination by comparing the protein profiles of ungerminated and germinated conidia has been published (El-Akhal et al 2013).…”

Aquatic Fungi

“…However, in many cases, all we know of newly discovered species is the sequence of a small part of their genome, with no insights regarding morphology, physiology or ecology of the specimen. In the future, a combination of techniques such as transcriptomics (Bhadauria et al, 2007), proteomics (Doyle 2011), metabolomics (Tan et al, 2009) may allow us to evaluate physiological and ecological inferences based on DNA sequences. Classical culture techniques, however, will remain important for studying morphology, preserving voucher specimens, and generally expanding our knowledge of undescribed species associated with novel sequences.…”

Massively Parallel Sequencing Technology in Pathogenic Microbes

“…To understand a transcriptome of a cell, it is necessary to catalog all transcript species, to capture transcript structures, and to quantify Genome-wide analysis the expression levels. For a plant-pathogenic organism, transcriptome analysis has enabled us to understand how pathogen progresses through its life cycle and how host pathogen interacts at a molecular level ( 42 ) . During the last 10 years, transcriptional profi ling strategies primarily rely on Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) and DNA chip and hybridization experiments.…”