Poster: Molecular & Cellular Plant-Microbe Interactions: Proteomics/Metabolomics/Genomics
789-P
Transcriptomic response of Fusarium verticillioides associated with nitrogen availability and development of sugarcane pokahh boeng disease
M. ZHANG (1), Z. Lin (2), J. Wang (3), Y. Bao (3), Q. Guo (3), C. Powell (1), S. Xu (3), B. Chen (3) (1) IRREC-IFAS, University of Florida, U.S.A.; (2) Guangxi University, China; (3) Guangxi University, China
Pokahh boeng, caused by Fusarium verticillioides, is a serious disease in sugarcane industry. The impact of nitrogen source (ammonium sulfate, urea or sodium nitrate) on sugarcane pokahh boeng disease and its pathogen was investigated in planta and fungal growth and sporulation production was measured in vitro. The results showed that ammonium and nitrate were beneficial to fungal mycelium growth, cell densities and sporulation and enhanced the disease symptomology of sugarcane pokahh boeng in comparison to urea fertilization. Total 1,779 transcripts out of 13,999 annotated genes identified from global transcriptomic analysis by RNA sequencing were differentially expressed in F. verticillioides CNO-1 grown in the different sources of nitrogen. A subset of these genes were associated with organic nitrogen assimilation and reproductive processes of F. verticillioides. The identified DEGs suggested the modes of nitrogen uptake and assimilation for F. verticillioides during different nitrogen regimes. Our results further demonstrated that nitrogen availability might play an important role in disease development by increasing fungal cell growth as well as influencing the expression of genes required for successful pathogenesis. These genes included those associated with phenotypic alteration, reproduction, nitrogen and carbon metabolism as well as several transcription factors responsible for these metabolisms.