AUTHOR=Cai Jinsen , Yang Songguang , Liu Wenrui , Yan Jinqiang , Jiang Biao , Xie Dasen 

TITLE=A transcriptome analysis of Benincasa hispida revealed the pathways and genes involved in response to Phytophthora melonis infection

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.1106123

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2022.1106123

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Wilt disease caused by <italic>Phytophthora melonis</italic> infection is one of the most serious threats to <italic>Benincasa hispida</italic> production. However, the mechanism of the response of <italic>B. hispida</italic> to a <italic>P. melonis</italic> infection remains largely unknown. In the present study, two <italic>B. hispida</italic> cultivars with different degrees of resistance to <italic>P. melonis</italic> were identified: B488 (a moderately resistant cultivar) and B214 (a moderately susceptible cultivar). RNA-seq was performed on <italic>P. melonis</italic>-infected B488 and B214 12 hours post infection (hpi). Compared with the control, 680 and 988 DEGs were respectively detected in B488 and B214. A KEGG pathway analysis combined with a cluster analysis revealed that phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, plant-pathogen interaction, the MAPK signaling pathway-plant, and plant hormone signal transduction were the most relevant pathways during the response of both B488 and B214 to <italic>P. melonis</italic> infection, as well as the differentially expressed genes in the two cultivars. In addition, a cluster analysis of transcription factor genes in DEGs identified four genes upregulated in B488 but not in B214 at 6 hpi and 12 hpi, which was confirmed by qRT-PCR. These were candidate genes for elucidating the mechanism of the <italic>B. hispida</italic> response to <italic>P. melonis</italic> infection and laying the foundation for the improvement of <italic>B. hispida</italic>.</p>