Project description:Lasiodiplodia theobromae is one of the causal agents of Grapevine trunk diseases, which becomes a tremendous threat to the grapevine production worldwide. Plant pathogens secrete diverse effectors to suppress host immune responses or regulate the host metabolism to promote diseases. Our results suggest that L. theobromae LtCre1 targets host VvRHIP1 to manipulate the sugar signaling pathway, through disrupting the association of VvRHIP1 and VvRGS1 complex.
Project description:Fomitiporia mediterranea (Fmed) is one of the main fungal species found in grapevine wood rot, also called “amadou”, one of the most typical symptoms of grapevine trunk disease Esca. This fungus is functionally classified as a white-rot, able to degrade all wood structure polymers, i.e., hemicelluloses, cellulose, and the most recalcitrant component, lignin. Specific enzymes are secreted by the fungus to degrade those components, namely carbohydrate active enzymes for hemicelluloses and cellulose, which can be highly specific for given polysaccharide, and peroxidases, which enable white-rot to degrade lignin, with specificities relating to lignin composition as well. Furthermore, besides polymers, a highly diverse set of metabolites often associated with antifungal activities is found in wood, this set differing among the various wood species. Wood decayers possess the ability to detoxify these specific extractives and this ability could reflect the adaptation of these fungi to their specific environment. The aim of this study is to better understand the molecular mechanisms used by Fmed to degrade wood structure, and in particular its potential adaptation to grapevine wood. To do so, Fmed was cultivated on sawdust from different origins: grapevine, beech, and spruce. Carbon mineralization rate, mass loss, wood structure polymers contents, targeted metabolites and secreted proteins were measured. We used the well-known white-rot model Trametes versicolor for comparison. Whereas no significant degradation was observed with spruce, a higher mass loss was measured on Fmed grapevine culture compared to beech culture. Moreover, on both substrates, a simultaneous degradation pattern and the degradation of wood extractives were demonstrated, and proteomic analyses identified a relative overproduction of oxidoreductases involved in lignin and extractive degradation on grapevine cultures, and only few differences in carbohydrate active enzymes. These results could explain at least partially the adaptation of Fmed to grapevine wood structural composition compared to other wood species and suggest that other biotic and abiotic factors should be considered to fully understand the potential adaptation of Fmed to its ecological niche.
Project description:We mapped nucleosome positions genome-wide in 12 Ascomycetes Illumina sequencing of mononucleosomal DNA isolated from mid-log cultures grown in rich medium (abbreviated CM, in house recipe)
Project description:Flavescence dorée is the most serious grapevine yellows disease in Europe. It is caused by phytoplasmas which are transmitted from grapevine to grapevine by the leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus. Differences in susceptibility among grapevine varieties suggest the existence of specific genetic features associated with resistance to the phytoplasma and/or possibly with its vector. In this work, RNA-Seq was used to compare early transcriptional changes occurring during the three-trophic interaction between the phytoplasma, its vector and the grapevine, represented by two different cultivars, one very susceptible to the disease and the other scarcely susceptible. Background: Flavescence dorée is the most serious grapevine yellows disease in Europe. It is caused by phytoplasmas which are transmitted from grapevine to grapevine by the leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus. Differences in susceptibility among grapevine varieties suggest the existence of specific genetic features associated with resistance to the phytoplasma and/or possibly with its vector. In this work, RNA-Seq was used to compare early transcriptional changes occurring during the three-trophic interaction between the phytoplasma, its vector and the grapevine, represented by two different cultivars, one very susceptible to the disease and the other scarcely susceptible. The comparison of the transcriptomic responses highlighted both passive and active defense mechanisms against the vector and/or the pathogen in the scarcely-susceptible variety, as well as the capacity of the phytoplasmas to repress the defense reaction against the insect in the susceptible variety.
Project description:MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-coding RNA molecules which have significant gene regulation roles in organisms. The advent of new high throughput sequencing technologies has enabled the revelation of novel miRNAs. Although there are two recent reports on high throughput sequencing analysis of small RNA libraries from different organs of two grapevine wine varieties, there were significant divergence in the number and kinds of miRNAs sequenced in these studies. More sequencing of small RNA libraries is still important for the discovery of novel miRNAs in grapevine. Here, we initially constructed a small RNA library of flower and fruit tissues of a table grapevine cultivar ‘Summer Black’ and performed sequencing and analysis of sRNAs using the Illumina Solexa platform, expecting to discover more miRNAs related to the development of grapevine flowers and berries and the formation of dessert quality in grapevine berries. Totally, 130 conserved grapevine miRNA (Vv-miRNA) belonging to 28 Vv-miRNA families were validated, and 92 novel potential grapevine-specific ones representing 80 unique ones were first discovered. Forty-two (48.84%) of the novel miRNAs possessed differential semi-quantitative PCR expression profiles in various grapevine tissues that could further confirm their existence in the grapevine, among which twenty were expressed only in grapevine berries, indicating some fruit-specificity. 130 target genes for 46 novel miRNAs could be predicted. The locations of these potential target genes on grapevine chromosomes and their complementary levels with the corresponding miRNAs were also analyzed.
Project description:Grapevine red blotch is a recently identified viral disease that was first recognized in the Napa Valley of California. Infected plants showed foliar symptoms similar to leafroll, another grapevine viral disease, on vines testing negative for known grapevine leafroll-associated virus. Later, the Grapevine red blotch virus (GRBV) was independently discovered in the US states of California and New York and was demonstrated to be the causal agent of red blotch disease. Due to its wide occurrence in the US, vector transmission and impacts on grape industry, this virus has the potential to cause serious economic losses. Despite numerous attempts, it was not possible to isolate or visualize viral particles from GRBV infected plants. Consequently, this has hampered the development of a serological assay that would facilitate GRBV detection in grapevine. We therefore decided to explore mass spectrometry approaches in order to quantify GRBV in infected plants and to identify potential biomarkers for viral infection. We present for the first time the physical detection on the protein level of the two GRBV genes V1 (coat protein) and V2 in grapevine tissue lysates. The GRBV coat protein load in leaf petioles was determined to be in the range of 100 to 900 million copies per milligram wet weight by using three heavy isotope labeled reference peptides as internal standards. The V1 copy number per unit wet tissue weight in leaves appeared to be about six times lower, and about 200-times lower in terms of protein concentration in the extractable protein mass than in petioles. We found a consistent upregulation of several enzymes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis in leaf and petiole extracts of GRBV-infected plants by label-free shotgun proteomics, indicating the activation of a defense mechanism against GRBV, a plant response already described for grapevine leafroll associated virus infection on the transcriptome level. Last but not least, we identified some other microorganisms belonging to the grapevine leaf microbiota, two bacterial species (Novosphingobium sp. Rr 2-17 and Methylobacterium) and one virus, Grapevine rupestris stem pitting associated virus.