Project description:Illumina sequencing reveals the first complete genome of Chickpea chlorotic dwarf virus (Geminiviridae: Mastrevirus) from Tomato in Kenya
Project description:Common transcriptional responses of Arabidopsis thaliana protoplasts transfected with turnip crinkle virus (TCV) , hibiscus chlorotic ringspot virus (HCRSV) and their coat protein mutants.
Project description:Tomato curly stunt virus (ToCSV) is a monopartite begomovirus infecting tomatoes in South Africa, with sequence similarity to tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV). While there are numerous reports on the mechanism of TYLCV resistance in tomato, the underlying mechanisms in the tomato-ToCSV pathosystem is still relatively unknown. The main aim of this study was to investigate and compare the global methylation profile of ToCSV in two near-isogenic tomato lines, one with a tolerant phenotype (T, NIL396) and one with a susceptible phenotype (S, NIL395). Bisulfite conversion and PCR amplification, coupled with a next-generation sequencing approach, were used to elucidate the global pattern of methylation of ToCSV cytosine residues in T and S leave tissue at 35 days post-infection (dpi). The extent of methylation was more pronounced in tolerant plants compared to susceptible plants in all sequence (CG, CHG and CHH) contexts, however, the overall methylation levels were relatively low (<3%). Notably, a significant interaction (p < 0.05) was observed between the viral genomic region and susceptible vs. tolerant status for CG methylated regions where it was observed that the 3'IR CG methylation was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than CG methylation of other genomic regions in tolerant and susceptible plants. Additionally, statistically significant (EdgeR p < 0.05) differentially methylated cytosines were located primarily in the genomic regions V2/V1 and C4/C1 of ToCSV. The relative expression, using RT-qPCR, was also employed in order to quantify the expression of various key methylation-related genes, MET1, CMT2, KYP4/SUVH4, DML2, RDM1, AGO4 and AGO6 in T vs. S plants at 35dpi. The differential expression between T and S was significant for MET1, KYP4/SUVH4 and RDM1 at p<0.05 which further supports more pronounced methylation observed in ToCSV from T plants vs. S plants. While this study provides new insights into the differences in methylation profiles of ToCSV in S vs. T tomato plants, further research is required to link tolerance and susceptibility to ToCSV.
Project description:To identify peanut Aspergillus-interactive and Aspergillus-resistance genes, we carried out a large scale peanut Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) project followed by a peanut microarray study. For expression profiling, resistant and susceptible peanut cultivars were infected with a mixture of Aspergillus flavus and parasiticus spores. Microarray analysis identified 65 and 1 genes in resistant (C20) and susceptible (TF) cultivars, respectively, that were up-regulated in response to Aspergillus infection. In addition we identified 40 putative Aspergillus-resistance genes that were constitutively up-expressed in the resistant cultivar in comparison to the susceptible cultivar. Some of these genes were homologous to peanut, corn, and soybean genes previously shown to confer resistance to fungal infection. These results provide a comprehensive genome-scale platform for future studies focused on developing Aspergillus-resistant peanut cultivars through conventional breeding, marker-assisted breeding, or biotechnological methods by gene manipulation.
Project description:In an experimental evolutionary set-up, we transferred a genetically diverse strain of the spider mite Tetranychus urticae from its common host bean to tomato where replicated populations were allowed to adapt. By sampling the transcriptomes of non-adapted and adaptes mites feeding on bean and tomato, we identified gene-expression changes in the spider mite affiliated with tomato adaptation. Transcriptional analysis revealed that both constitutive gene-expression levels as well as the transcriptional plasticity of genes were affected. Specifically, tomato adaptation resulted in a large set of constitutively down-regulated genes of unknown function in adapted mites compared to non-adapted mites. Additionally, upon tomato exposure, adapted mites exhibited an increased transcriptional plasticity of genes coding for detoxifying enzymes and xenobiotic transporters. Remarkably, adapted mites further exhibited a differential effect on host plant physiology compared to non-adapted mites. Adapted mites induced a greater chlorotic area on tomato leaves and triggered attenuated induced responses relative to those induced by non-adapted mites.