Expression Profiling of A. thaliana Plants after Infection with the Xylem-Colonizing Fungus V. longisporum

ABSTRACT: Verticillium longisporum is a soil-borne fungal pathogen causing vascular disease predominantly in oilseed rape. The pathogen enters its host through the roots and entertains a parasitic life stage in the xylem before invading other tissues late in the infection cycle. We have started to approach the question how and when the host plant senses the colonization of the xylem using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model plant. Although the stress-related phytohormones salicylic acid, jasmonic acid and abscisic acid increase only at 28 to 35 days, expression of V. longisporum-induced genes (VliGs) starts in the leaf veins as early as 5 dpi when disease symptoms and fungal DNA cannot yet be detected. It is concluded that an elicitor is transported from the root to the aerial parts. More than one third of the VliGs identified by whole genome expression profiling at 18 dpi encode apoplastically localized proteins involved in cell wall modifications and potential defense responses. The identified VliGs provide a useful tool to elucidate the contribution of the induced genes to the disease phenotype and the defense response. Moreover, they will help to identify the elicitor(s) and the components of the signal transduction chain that shape the V. longisporum – plant interaction. Keywords: Arabidopsis, cell wall, microarray, phytohormones, Verticillium longisporum, xylem

ORGANISM(S): Arabidopsis thaliana

PROVIDER: GSE10385 | GEO | 2008/03/25

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA108127

REPOSITORIES: GEO