Integrated Analysis of microRNA and mRNA Transcriptome Reveals the Molecular Mechanism of Solanum lycopersicum Response to Bemisia tabaci and Tomato chlorosis virus

Abstract

Tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV), is one of the most devastating cultivated tomato viruses, seriously threatened the growth of crops worldwide. As the vector of ToCV, the whitefly Bemisia tabaci Mediterranean (MED) is mainly responsible for the rapid spread of ToCV. The current understanding of tomato plant responses to this virus and B. tabaci is very limited. To understand the molecular mechanism of the interaction between tomato, ToCV and B. tabaci, we adopted a next-generation sequencing approach to decipher miRNAs and mRNAs that are differentially expressed under the infection of B. tabaci and ToCV in tomato plants. Our data revealed that 6199 mRNAs were significantly regulated, and the differentially expressed genes were most significantly associated with the plant-pathogen interaction, the MAPK signaling pathway, the glyoxylate, and the carbon fixation in photosynthetic organisms and photosynthesis related proteins. Concomitantly, 242 differentially expressed miRNAs were detected, including novel putative miRNAs. Sly-miR159, sly-miR9471b-3p, and sly-miR162 were the most expressed miRNAs in each sample compare to control group. Moreover, we compared the similarities and differences of gene expression in tomato plant caused by infection or co-infection of B. tabaci and ToCV. Taken together, the analysis reported in this article lays a solid foundation for further research on the interaction between tomato, ToCV and B. tabaci, and provide evidence for the identification of potential key genes that influences virus transmission in tomato plants.

Single‐cell transcriptome landscape elucidates the cellular and developmental responses to tomato chlorosis virus infection in tomato leaf

“…In our data, the WRKY TFs were the most highly expressed TF detected, demonstrating different degrees of differential expression in each cell type (Table S6). This suggests that WRKY TFs may play an essential role in the interaction between ToCV and plants, consistent with previous studies (Yue et al, 2021). In addition, TF families, such as basic helix-loop-helix (BHLH), APETALA2/ethylene-responsive factor and zinc finger protein, were also expressed in large amounts in ToCV-infected cells.…”

“…ToCV-infected plants were obtained as previously described (Yue et al, 2021). In brief, a ToCV infectious cDNA agro clone was injected into three-true-leaf-stage tomato plants.…”

The role of photorespiration in plant immunity

“…At present, no unequivocal conclusions have been drawn on how the level of photorespiratory enzymes is regulated in response to pathogen infections. Some studies show that photorespiratory genes are generally suppressed by pathogen infection ( Zabala et al., 2015 ; Giraldo – González et al., 2021 ; Kalapos et al., 2021 ; Yue et al., 2021 ), whereas in other studies certain photorespiratory genes show increased expression instead ( Mitsuya et al., 2009 ; Ahammed et al., 2018 ). At the protein level, both up- and down-regulation of the photorespiratory enzymes in presence of pathogens have been observed ( Segarra et al., 2007 ; Zhao et al., 2013 ; Ma et al., 2020 ; He et al., 2021 ).…”