ARS | Publication request: Comparative analysis of putative pathogenesis-related gene expression in two Rhizoctonia solani pathosystems

Submitted to: Current Genetics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: August 15, 2011
Publication Date: September 11, 2011
Citation: Rioux, R., Manmathan, H., Singh, P., De Los Reyes, B., Jia, Y., Tavantzis, S. 2011. Comparative analysis of putative pathogenesis-related gene expression in two Rhizoctonia solani pathosystems. Current Genetics. 57:391-408.

Interpretive Summary: Rhizoctonia solani causes rice sheath blight and black scurf on potato tubers. Currently, little is known about processes by which R. solani infect both hosts at the molecular level. In the present study we have analyzed ten putative pathogenicity factors using suppressive subtractive hybridization and quantitative real-time PCR techniques. We showed that a number of genes were similarly expressed by AG1 and AG3 during the early stages of pathogenesis. Based on expression profiles of these genes, we proposed that there are at least three putative events associated with R. solani pathogenesis: 1) early host contact and infiltration, 2) adjustment to the host environment, and 3) disease proliferation through necrosis. Further studies of host and pathogen genes involved in these processes will lead to more effective methods to control both sheath blight and black scurf.

Technical Abstract: Rhizoctonia solani, teleomorph Thanatephoris cucumeris, is a polyphagous nectrotrophic plant pathogen of the Basidiomycete order that is split into fourteen different anastomosis groups (AGs) based on hyphal interactions and host range. Currently, little is known about the methods by which R. solani infects its hosts, particularly at the molecular level. In the current investigation, suppressive subtractive hybridization and quantitative real-time PCR (qrt-PCR) techniques were used to determine potential virulence factors of R. solani in the AG1-IA/rice and AG3/potato pathosystems. These factors were identified by mining for sequences of pathogen origin in a library of rice tissue infected with R. solani AG1-IA and comparing these sequences