A transcriptomic analysis of sugarcane response to Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli infection

Abstract

Sugarcane ratoon stunting disease (RSD) caused by Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli (Lxx) is a common destructive disease that occurs around the world. Lxx is an obligate pathogen of sugarcane, and previous studies have reported some physiological responses of RSD-affected sugarcane. However, the molecular understanding of sugarcane response to Lxx infection remains unclear. In the present study, transcriptomes of healthy and Lxx-infected sugarcane stalks and leaves were studied to gain more insights into the gene activity in sugarcane in response to Lxx infection. RNA-Seq analysis of healthy and diseased plants transcriptomes identified 107,750 unigenes. Analysis of these unigenes showed a large number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) occurring mostly in leaves of infected plants. Sugarcane responds to Lxx infection mainly via alteration of metabolic pathways such as photosynthesis, phytohormone biosynthesis, phytohormone action-mediated regulation, and plant-pathogen interactions. It was also found that cell wall defense pathways and protein phosphorylation/dephosphorylation pathways may play important roles in Lxx pathogeneis. In Lxx-infected plants, significant inhibition in photosynthetic processes through large number of differentially expressed genes involved in energy capture, energy metabolism and chloroplast structure. Also, Lxx infection caused down-regulation of gibberellin response through an increased activity of DELLA and down-regulation of GID1 proteins. This alteration in gibberellic acid response combined with the inhibition of photosynthetic processes may account for the majority of growth retardation occurring in RSD-affected plants. A number of genes associated with plant-pathogen interactions were also differentially expressed in Lxx-infected plants. These include those involved in secondary metabolite biosynthesis, protein phosphorylation/dephosphorylation, cell wall biosynthesis, and phagosomes, implicating an active defense response to Lxx infection. Considering the fact that RSD occurs worldwide and a significant cause of sugarcane productivity, a better understanding of Lxx resistance-related processes may help develop tools and technologies for producing RSD-resistant sugarcane varieties through conventional and/or molecular breeding.

Screening of Sugarcane Proteins Associated with Defense against Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli, Agent of Ratoon Stunting Disease

“…Sugarcane plays a pivotal role as a major source of sugar and renewable energy, contributing to the global economy. RSD profoundly impacts sugarcane by reducing yields and stalk length, hindering sugar production [25]. Developing sugarcane varieties resistant to RSD stands as the most economically effective approach to mitigate its impact on the sugarcane industry.…”

Molecular mechanism of endophytic bacteria DX120E regulating polyamine metabolism and promoting plant growth in sugarcane

“…Several transcriptomic studies have revealed the functions of endophytic bacteria during symbiosis between plants and phytopathogens ( Ling et al., 2018 ; Fu et al., 2019 ; Zhu et al., 2021 ). These promising results suggest that dual RNA-seq analyses could be used to understand the physiological and molecular mechanism interactions between novel PGPB and crops.…”

Transcriptome Analysis Reveals a Gene Expression Pattern That Contributes to Sugarcane Bud Propagation Induced by Indole-3-Butyric Acid

“…A protein phosphatase 2A gene was upregulated during the IBA-induced adventitious root formation on Arabidopsis stem segments ( Fattorini et al, 2017 ). Transcriptome analysis has previously been performed on sugarcane internodes ( Kasirajan et al, 2018 ; Wang et al, 2019 ), root ( Zeng et al, 2015 ; Dharshini et al, 2019 ; Malviya et al, 2020 ), leaves ( Li et al, 2016a ; Liu et al, 2018 ), mature and furled immature leaves ( Manechini et al, 2021 ), and stalk ( Zhu et al, 2021 ). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first-of-its-kind attempt to study the transcriptome analysis of the single bud of sugarcane in response to IBA.…”