Project description:Characterization of the metabolome of three fungal isolates, Fusarium sp., Pseudothielavia sp., and Pseudophialophora sp. grown alone (axenically) and in the presence of seeds of the invasive grass Eragrostis lehmanniana and co-occuring native grasses Eragrostis intermedia, Bouteloua curtipendula, and Leptachloa dubia.
Project description:Characterization of the metabolome of three fungal isolates, Fusarium sp., Pseudothielavia sp., and Pseudophialophora sp. grown alone (axenically) and in the presence of seeds of the invasive grass Eragrostis lehmanniana and co-occuring native grasses Eragrostis intermedia, Bouteloua curtipendula, and Leptachloa dubia.
Project description:Shrub willow (Salix spp.), a short rotation woody biomass crop, has superior properties as a perennial energy crop for the Northeast and Midwest US. However, the insect pest potato leafhopper Empoasca fabae (Harris) (PLH) can cause serious damage and reduce yield of susceptible genotypes. Currently, the willow cultivars in use display varying levels of susceptibility under PLH infestation. However, genes and markers for resistance to PLH are not yet available for marker-assisted selection in breeding. In this study, transcriptome differences between a resistant genotype 94006 (S. purpurea) and a susceptible cultivar ‘Jorr’ (S. viminalis), and their hybrid progeny were determined. Over 600 million RNA-Seq reads were generated and mapped to the Salix purpurea reference transcriptome. Gene expression analyses revealed the unique defense mechanism in resistant genotype 94006 that involves PLH-induced secondary cell wall modification. In the susceptible genotypes, genes involved in programed cell death were highly expressed, explaining the necrosis symptoms after potato leafhopper feeding. Overall, the discovery of resistance genes and defense mechanisms provides new resources for shrub willow breeding and research in the future.