Pathogenesis of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis: A Transcriptomic Approach

• Published in: Journal of plant pathology Vol. 89; no. 3; p. S23
• Main Authors: Szafranska, K, Fusari, F, Luongo, L, Polverari, A, Delledonne, M, Ficcadenti, N, Belisario, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-12-2007
• Subjects: Fusarium oxysporum; Melonis
• ISSN: 1125-4653

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis is the agent of the most destructive disease of melon in Italy and worldwide. Four races are presently known (0, 1, 2, and 1,2), one of which, race 1,2, is able to overcome the resistance of commonly cultivated varieties. No genes have been identified in muskmelon that confer high levels of resistance to race 1,2. Thus, it would be important to understand the molecular basis of resistance and susceptibility in mel-on, and of virulence in the pathogen. A transcriptomic approach was undertaken by cDNA-AFLP on melon plants cv. Charentais-Fom2 infected with race 1 (avirulent) and race 1,2 (virulent), at 2, 4, 8 and 21 days after inoculation. RNA from fungal colonies of the two races was also included in the analysis, to identify possible fungal transcripts expressed in the plants during infection. A total of 1,376 differentially expressed bands were detected by running 128 primer combinations. All these bands were clustered in expression profiles as follows: (i) genes modulated in the incompatible interaction or (ii) in the compatible interaction only; (iii) genes modulated in both interactions with different profiles; (iv) genes expressed in plant, but showing a band of similar size also in fungal samples, which might be of fungal origin. All cDNA fragments have been eluted from the gels and will be sequenced for homology search in databases. Few differences in gene expression were detected between virulent and avirulent races grown in culture, which will be the basis for race characterization.