This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Quantitative real-time PCR revealed that R and R-related genes in V. flexuosa induced defense responses through expression of genes in SA-pathway rather than in the JA-pathway, and R-related genes were more closely correlated with lignin and phytoalexin biosynthesis than anthocyanin biosynthesis against different pathogen infections in V. flexuosa. Specifically, genes such as VfRLK586, VfRLK2422, VfRLK5099, VfRLK29610, VfRLK55257, VfRPS5-like4135, VfRPS5-like4832, VfRPS5-like20585, VfRPS5-like55532, VfEDL2, VfEDL3, VfCXE5585, VfCXE12827, and VfCXE13132 showed close correlation with induction of genes in the SA-mediated pathway, lignin, phytoalexin, and anthocyanin biosynthesis. Genes including VfRLK2422, VfRLK5099, VfRLK29610, VfRPS5-like55532, VfEDL3, and VfCXE12827 were also correlated with the JA-mediated signaling pathway in induction of defense responses.