Dynamic analysis of the citrus transcriptome in response to Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, the causal agent of Huanglongbing (ex-greening)

• Grant number: 12/20667-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: February 01, 2013
• End date: January 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: Juliana de Freitas Astúa
• Grantee: Michele Claire Breton
• Host Institution: Instituto Agronômico (IAC). Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios (APTA). Secretaria de Agricultura e Abastecimento (São Paulo - Estado). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Citrus huanglongbing (HLB) has negative impact in citrus production and prices in the world market. The disease drastically reduces productivity of orchards and increases cost of production due to the intense use of pesticides to control its insect vector, which makes HLB one of the most devastating diseases of citrus worldwide. Facing this scenario and with the objective to complement the data obtained within the projects Embrapa-Monsanto agreement and INCT (NIST)-Citrus, we now propose a time course study of the response of two citrus genera, Poncirus. trifoliata and Citrus sinensis, tolerant and susceptible to HLB, respectively, to Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CaLas). We believe we can obtain a fluxogram of gene expression profiles and activation of plant defense mechanisms, since the initial signals that recognize CaLas as a pathogen till the activation of physical and chemical barriers involved in actual tolerance. (AU)