RNA-seq of plant/pathogen interactions as a tool for deciphering effector genes

Abstract

Trabajo presentado en la 2nd Annual Conference of the SUSTAIN Action, celebrada en Zakopane (Poland) del 15 al 17 de octubre de 2014.Rusts are among the most important plant diseases. As biotrophic fungi, there is a requirement to sustain infected host cells alive for their development, increasing the need for an efficient cross-talk between host and pathogen. Rusts are also known for the frequent breakdown of resistance due to the rapid evolution of these pathogens. RNA-seq can provide valuable information about plant/pathogen interactions, allowing the identification and quantification of expressed sequences potentially involved in plant resistance and in the pathogen attack. Using this approach on resistant and susceptible Lathyrus accessions, we identified the potential effectors involved in the Uromyces pisi/Lathyrus sativus and U. pisi/L. cicera interactions. From the 4558 putative fungal transcripts, 891 encoded potential secreted proteins, as predicted by SignalP and TargetP algorithms.From these, a selection of effector proteins will be used as probes to identify the target host proteins as an initial step towards the development of effector-driven legume breeding approaches, maximizing the potential of durability of resistance against such a quickly evolving pathogen.N