Global transcriptome analysis of constitutive resistance to the white pine weevil in spruce.

ABSTRACT: Constitutive defense mechanisms are critical to the understanding of defense mechanisms in conifers because they constitute the first barrier to attacks by insect pests. In interior spruce, trees that are putatively resistant and susceptible to attacks by white pine weevil (Pissodes strobi) typically exhibit constitutive differences in traits such as resin duct size and number, bark thickness, and terpene content. To improve our knowledge of their genetic basis, we compared globally the constitutive expression levels of 17,825 genes between 20 putatively resistant and 20 putatively susceptible interior spruce trees from the British Columbia tree improvement program. We identified 54 upregulated and 137 downregulated genes in resistant phenotypes, relative to susceptible phenotypes, with a

SUBMITTER: Verne S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3296464 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature