Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Variable Responses to the Brown Planthopper Nilaparvata lugens in Different Rice Cultivars

Abstract

Rice is an indispensable crop in East and Southeast Asia, and the study of its biological characteristics has important value. We observed that different cultivars of rice have different levels of resistance to the brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens. In this study, transcriptome sequencing was used to analyze the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of three rice varieties caused by BPH damage combined with physical stimulation and controls. We performed weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA) and found a module positively related to physical stimulation. KEGG analysis showed that this module is strongly related to the ribosome pathway. Through comparative analysis with controls, we found the differential genes of each cultivar after BPH damage; through trend analysis, we found the differential genes shared by the three varieties after BPH damage. The KEGG/GO enrichment analysis of these genes found that they are mainly functionally concentrated in signal transduction, redox reactions, etc. The results of this research will be helpful to study the molecular mechanism of the BPH-rice interaction, identify resistance genes, and facilitate further studies on molecular resistance breeding and pest control.

Molecular Variability of Crop Pathogens

“…This collection contains six published papers addressing key bacterial and fungal pathogens in coffee, sorghum, tomato, triticale, rice and kiwifruit plants. They report two main disease management strategies, biocontrol agents [4,5] and molecular-based [6][7][8][9].…”

“…This large-scale experiment advanced knowledge on the phenotypic data available for triticale species' disease resistance and evidenced the importance of understanding these pathogens' incidence dynamics in response to climate change. In [8], the authors used transcriptome sequencing and analysis to understand the molecular mechanisms behind brown planthopper infection in rice plants. The large transcriptome data obtained showed alterations in different biologically relevant gene classes and allowed the identification of differentially expressed genes commonly triggered in three rice varieties after insect damage, paving the way for future resistance screening studies.…”