No abstract

Anthracnose, caused by Colletotrichum spp., is a significant disease affecting oil tea (Camellia oleifera Abel.). Extensive molecular studies have demonstrated that Colletotrichum fructicola is the dominant pathogen of oil tea anthracnose in China. This study aims to investigate differences in molecular processes and regulatory genes at a late stage of infection of C. fructicola, to aid in understanding differences in pathogenic mechanisms of C. fructicola of different geographic populations. We compared the pathogenicity of C. fructicola from different populations (Wuzhishan, Hainan province, and Shaoyang, Hunan province) and gene expression of representative strains of the two populations before and after inoculation in oil tea using RNA sequencing. The results revealed that C. fructicola from Wuzhishan has a more vital ability to impact oil tea leaf tissue. Following infection with oil tea leaves, up-regulated genes in the strains from two geographic populations were associated with galactosidase activity, glutamine family amino acid metabolism, arginine, and proline metabolism. Additionally, up-regulated gene lists associated with infection by Wuzhishan strains were significantly enriched in purine metabolism pathways, while Shaoyang strains were not. These results indicate that more transcriptional and translational activity and the greater regulation of the purine metabolism pathway in the C. fructicola of the Wuzhishan strain might contribute to its stronger pathogenicity.

No abstract

Anthracnose, caused by Colletotrichum. Spp., is an important disease affecting oil tea (Camellia oleifera), where infection can cause reductions in yield and oil quality. In recent years, extensive molecular studies have demonstrated that Colletotrichum fructicola is the dominant pathogen of oil tea anthracnose in China. To investigate differences in molecular processes and regulatory genes at different stages of infection of C. fructicola, we compared the pathogenicity of C. fructicola from different populations(Wuzhishan, Hainan province and Shaoyang, Hunan province),and gene expression of representative strains of the two populations before and after infection with Camellia oleifera using RNA sequencing. We found that C. fructicola from Wuzhishan has a stronger ability to infect and impact oil tea leaf tissue. Up-regulated genes in oil tea following infection with the two geographic populations were associated with a number of ribosome-related GO and KEGG pathways, and were significantly enriched in galactosidase activity, glutamine family amino acid metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism. These results indicate that C. fructicola obtained sugars and amino acids from oil tea tissue to resist host immune pressure. Up-regulated gene lists associated with infection by the Wuzhishan strains were significantly enriched in ribosome-related metabolic pathways as well as purine metabolism pathways, while Shaoyang strains were not significantly enriched in these processes. Differences in gene expression were indicative of greater active transcription and translation in oil tea infected with the Wuzhishan population while more active glycoprotein metabolism was observed following inoculation with strains from Shaoyang. The greater regulation of purine metabolism pathway in oil tea inoculated with the Wuzhishan strain might contribute to its stronger pathogenicity. The results of this study will aide in understanding differences in pathogenic mechanisms of C. fructicola of different geographic populations.