Identification of host gene regulation and resistance pathway dynamics at diverse infection stages of Rhizoctonia solani AG3-TB.

ABSTRACT

Rhizoctonia solani is a fungal pathogen that causes significant losses in agricultural production. Because of its rapid transmission and broad host range, the exploration of genes involved in defense responses to the infection of R. solani has become an important task. Here, we performed a time-course RNA-Seq experiment to explore crucial genes or pathways involved in host responses to R. solani AG3-TB infection at 6, 12, 24, 36, 48, and 72 hours post inoculation (hpi). GO and KEGG enrichment analysis revealed that most DEGs were enriched in the basal metabolism pathways, including carbohydrate metabolic processes and the biosynthesis of amino acids. Moreover, catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were up-regulated, and transcription factors (TFs) such as WRKY, AP2, and MYB were increased significantly compared to the control (0 hpi). Silencing of WRKY70 and catalase-3 exhibited elevated susceptibility to the fungal infection. To summarize, the TFs WRKY70 and WRKY75, genes involved in jasmonic acid (JA), salicylic acid (SA), and brassinosteroids (BR) signaling pathways, and defense-related enzymes may play crucial roles in the host responses to R. solani AG3-TB infection.