Transcriptional profile characterization in the Moniliophthora perniciosa x Solanum lycopersicum interaction

• Grant number: 16/10524-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: September 05, 2016
• End date: December 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Plant Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Antonio Vargas de Oliveira Figueira
• Grantee: Juliana Leles Costa
• Supervisor: Piotr Andrzej Mieczkowski
• Host Institution: Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/04309-6 - Functional analysis of cacao signalling and defense genes in the interaction Moniliophthora perniciosa x Solanum lycopersicum, BP.DR

Abstract

The witches' broom disease is the main disease that affects cacao (Theobroma cacao), caused by the basidiomycete Moniliophthora perniciosa. Symptoms include stem swelling and excessive axillary shoots production on infected sites. Our research group has shown that the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) miniature cultivar 'Micro-Tom' ('MT') is a suitable genetic model system to investigate the interaction with M. perniciosa, presenting typical symptoms of the disease. The development of witches' broom symtoms is related to plant hormonal signals, since the pathogen appears to cause a hormonal imbalance at the shoot apex of the host. The 'MT' model has a collection of mutant and transgenic lines with altered hormonal synthesis or perception, which represents an important resource for investigating the role of hormones in the pathogenesis. Furthermore, the physiological changes in cacao can be better investigated in the 'MT' system. Thus, in this proposal, 'MT' mutants and a transgenic line with changes on the perception or synthesis of auxin and cytokinin, will be inoculated with M. perniciosa and used for massive analysis of transcripts by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) in a time course experiment. The results will be compared to available data from the transcriptome M. perniciosa x T. cacao interaction.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

COSTA, JULIANA L.; PASCHOAL, DANIELE; DA SILVA, EDER M.; SILVA, JAMILLE S.; DO CARMO, RAFAEL M.; CARRERA, ESTHER; LOPEZ-DIAZ, ISABEL; ROSSI, MONICA L.; FRESCHI, LUCIANO; MIECZKOWSKI, PIOTR; et al. Moniliophthora perniciosa, the causal agent of witches' broom disease of cacao, interferes with cytokinin metabolism during infection of Micro-Tom tomato and promotes symptom development. NEW PHYTOLOGIST, v. 231, n. 1, p. 365-381, JUL 2021. (16/10524-5, 13/04309-6, 19/12188-0, 16/10498-4, 15/00060-9, 17/17000-4)

PASCHOAL, DANIELE; COSTA, JULIANA L.; DA SILVA, EDER M.; DA SILVA, FABIA B.; CAPELIN, DIOGO; OMETTO, VITOR; ARICETTI, JULIANA A.; CARVALHO, GABRIEL G.; PIMPINATO, RODRIGO F.; DE OLIVEIRA, RICARDO F.; et al. Infection by Moniliophthora perniciosa reprograms tomato Micro-Tom physiology, establishes a sink, and increases secondary cell wall synthesis. Journal of Experimental Botany, v. 73, n. 11, p. 20-pg., 2022-02-21. (13/04309-6, 17/17000-4, 16/10498-4, 16/10524-5, 18/18711-4)