Transcriptome Analysis of Sugarcane Response to Sugarcane Yellow Leaf Virus Infection Transmitted by the Vector Melanaphis sacchari

Abstract

Sugarcane yellow leaf disease severely affects sugarcane production. As a viral disease, the pathogen sugarcane yellow leaf virus can only be transmitted by aphid vectors rather than mechanical means. To understand the sugarcane responses to ScYLV infection, the corresponding transcriptomic profile of ScYLV-infected and ScYLV-free plants were analyzed with RNA-Seq technology. In this study, Melanaphis sacchari was used as the vector to transmit ScYLV to the susceptible sugarcane cultivar CP72-1210 and transcriptome was sequenced as well as differentially expressed genes between disease-infected and non-infected sugarcane plants were investigated. A total of 1,22,593 genes were assembled, of which 1,630 genes were differentially expressed. Among DEGs, 1,622 were upregulated and eight were downregulated that were further annotated with GO, KEGG, KOG, PFAM, SwissProt, and Nr databases. The expression levels of DEGs in the three KEGG pathways, namely endocytosis, PEX protein synthesis, and endoplasmic reticulum stress response to viral protein synthesis were observed. Interestingly, it was found that the yellow leaf virus could induce the formation of autophagosomes by LC3, promoted by ER stress, and may be related to the replication of viral RNA. We tested 63 DEGs in this research. The qRT-PCR results showed that two were downregulated and 45 were upregulated in response to the ScYLV infection. This study will not only offer an overall comprehension of sugarcane responses to ScYLV infection at the gene expression level but also increase the chances to block the transmission of ScYLV for use in further molecular biology techniques and will aid in increasing the resistance of plants against ScYLV.

Comparative Analysis of Growth and Physiological Responses of Sugarcane Elite Genotypes to Water Stress and Sandy Loam Soils

“…The findings indicate that maintaining optimal photosynthetic performance during drought and facilitating recovery after re-watering, particularly during the stalk growth stage, play a vital role in determining the final yield of sugarcane. In the future, climate-smart breeding combined with conventional breeding strategies can be employed to develop climate-resilient sugarcane cultivars [43][44][45][46][47].…”

Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Candidate Genes in Response to Sorghum Mosaic Virus and Salicylic Acid in Sugarcane

“…Climate change is predicted to have significant effects on sugarcane production around the globe, particularly in developing countries because of relatively low adaptive capacity, high vulnerability to natural hazards, limited gene pool, and poor forecasting systems as well as preventive/mitigating measures. Sugarcane production may have been negatively affected and will continue to be considerably affected by increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme environmental conditions such as biotic and abiotic stresses [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. Over the last decade, the advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) such as transcriptomics, metabolomics, genomics, and proteomics have emerged as promising tools for exploring genetic and molecular basis to identify networks of regulatory candidate genes and biosynthetic cascades under the ongoing climate change scenario in sugarcane [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ].…”

“…Numerous transcriptomic approaches have been undertaken in sugarcane infected with various biotic and abiotic stresses. For pathogen infection, several studies have been undertaken on sugarcane infected by sugarcane yellow leaf virus (SCYLV) [ 5 ], sugarcane streak mosaic virus (SCSMV) [ 6 ], Sporisorium scitamineum [ 7 ], Acidovorax avenae subsp. avenae (Aaa) [ 8 ] and Xanthomonas albilineans ( Xa ) [ 9 ].…”