The mediator (MED) represents a large, conserved, multi-subunit protein complex that regulates gene expression through interactions with RNA polymerase II and enhancer-bound transcription factors. Expanding research accomplishments suggest the predominant role of plant MED subunits in the regulation of various physiological and developmental processes, including the biotic stress response against bacterial and fungal pathogens. However, the involvement of MED subunits in virus/viroid pathogenesis remains elusive. In this study, we investigated for the first time the gene expression modulation of selected MED subunits in response to five viroid species (Apple fruit crinkle viroid (AFCVd), Citrus bark cracking viroid (CBCVd), Hop latent viroid (HLVd), Hop stunt viroid (HSVd), and Potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd)) in two model plant species (Nicotiana tabacum and N. benthamiana) and a commercially important hop (Humulus lupulus) cultivar. Our results showed a differential expression pattern of MED subunits in response to a viroid infection. The individual plant MED subunits displayed a differential and tailored expression pattern in response to different viroid species, suggesting that the MED expression is viroid- and plant species-dependent. The explicit evidence obtained from our results warrants further investigation into the association of the MED subunit with symptom development. Together, we provide a comprehensive portrait of MED subunit expression in response to viroid infection and a plausible involvement of MED subunits in fine-tuning transcriptional reprogramming in response to viroid infection, suggesting them as a potential candidate for rewiring the defense response network in plants against pathogens.
- Klíčová slova
- Nicotiana benthamiana, Nicotiana tabacum, differential expression, hop, mediator complex, pathogen, quantitative reverse transcription PCR, viroid,
- MeSH
- druhová specificita MeSH
- Humulus genetika virologie MeSH
- listy rostlin genetika mikrobiologie MeSH
- mediátorový komplex genetika MeSH
- regulace genové exprese u rostlin MeSH
- rostlinné proteiny genetika MeSH
- rostlinné viry MeSH
- stanovení celkové genové exprese MeSH
- tabák genetika virologie MeSH
- viroidy genetika patogenita MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- Názvy látek
- mediátorový komplex MeSH
- rostlinné proteiny MeSH
The hop plant (Humulus lupulus L.) produces several valuable secondary metabolites, such as prenylflavonoid, bitter acids, and essential oils. These compounds are biosynthesized in glandular trichomes (lupulin glands) endowed with pharmacological properties and widely implicated in the beer brewing industry. The present study is an attempt to generate exhaustive information of transcriptome dynamics and gene regulatory mechanisms involved in biosynthesis and regulation of these compounds, developmental changes including trichome development at three development stages, namely leaf, bract, and mature lupulin glands. Using high-throughput RNA-Seq technology, a total of 61.13, 50.01, and 20.18 Mb clean reads in the leaf, bract, and lupulin gland libraries, respectively, were obtained and assembled into 43,550 unigenes. The putative functions were assigned to 30,996 transcripts (71.17%) based on basic local alignment search tool similarity searches against public sequence databases, including GO, KEGG, NR, and COG families, which indicated that genes are principally involved in fundamental cellular and molecular functions, and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. The expression levels of all unigenes were analyzed in leaf, bract, and lupulin glands tissues of hop. The expression profile of transcript encoding enzymes of BCAA metabolism, MEP, and shikimate pathway was most up-regulated in lupulin glands compared with leaves and bracts. Similarly, the expression levels of the transcription factors and structural genes that directly encode enzymes involved in xanthohumol, bitter acids, and terpenoids biosynthesis pathway were found to be significantly enhanced in lupulin glands, suggesting that production of these metabolites increases after the leaf development. In addition, numerous genes involved in primary metabolism, lipid metabolism, photosynthesis, generation of precursor metabolites/energy, protein modification, transporter activity, and cell wall component biogenesis were differentially regulated in three developmental stages, suggesting their involvement in the dynamics of the lupulin gland development. The identification of differentially regulated trichome-related genes provided a new foundation for molecular research on trichome development and differentiation in hop. In conclusion, the reported results provide directions for future functional genomics studies for genetic engineering or molecular breeding for augmentation of secondary metabolite content in hop.
- Klíčová slova
- Humulus lupulus, RNA sequencing, bitter acids, lupulin glands, prenylflavonoids, terpenoids, trichome,
- MeSH
- flavonoidy biosyntéza chemie metabolismus MeSH
- genová ontologie MeSH
- Humulus chemie metabolismus MeSH
- listy rostlin genetika metabolismus MeSH
- propiofenony chemie metabolismus MeSH
- regulace genové exprese u rostlin MeSH
- rostlinné proteiny genetika metabolismus MeSH
- sekvenování transkriptomu MeSH
- terpeny chemie metabolismus MeSH
- transkripční faktory metabolismus MeSH
- transkriptom genetika MeSH
- trichomy genetika metabolismus ultrastruktura MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- Názvy látek
- flavonoidy MeSH
- propiofenony MeSH
- rostlinné proteiny MeSH
- terpeny MeSH
- transkripční faktory MeSH
- xanthohumol MeSH Prohlížeč
Viroids are small non-capsidated, single-stranded, covalently-closed circular noncoding RNA replicons of 239-401 nucleotides that exploit host factors for their replication, and some cause disease in several economically important crop plants, while others appear to be benign. The proposed mechanisms of viroid pathogenesis include direct interaction of the genomic viroid RNA with host factors and post-transcriptional or transcriptional gene silencing via viroid-derived small RNAs (vd-sRNAs) generated by the host defensive machinery. Humulus lupulus (hop) plants are hosts to several viroids among which Hop latent viroid (HLVd) and Citrus bark cracking viroid (CBCVd) are attractive model systems for the study of viroid-host interactions due to the symptomless infection of the former and severe symptoms induced by the latter in this indicator host. To better understand their interactions with hop plant, a comparative transcriptomic analysis based on RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed to reveal the transcriptional alterations induced as a result of single HLVd and CBCVd infection in hop. Additionally, the effect of HLVd on the aggressiveness of CBCVd that underlies severe stunting in hop in a mixed infection was studied by transcriptomic analysis. Our analysis revealed that CBCVd infection resulted in dynamic changes in the activity of genes as compared to single HLVd infection and their mixed infection. The differentially expressed genes that are involved in defense, phytohormone signaling, photosynthesis and chloroplasts, RNA regulation, processing and binding; protein metabolism and modification; and other mechanisms were more modulated in the CBCVd infection of hop. Nevertheless, Gene Ontology (GO) classification and pathway enrichment analysis showed that the expression of genes involved in the proteolysis mechanism is more active in a mixed infection as compared to a single one, suggesting co-infecting viroids may result in interference with host factors more prominently. Collectively, our results provide a deep transcriptome of hop and insight into complex single HLVd, CBCVd, and their coinfection in hop-plant interactions.
- Klíčová slova
- Citrus bark cracking viroid, Hop latent viroid, Humulus lupulus, co-infection, differentially expressed genes, transcriptome profiling,
- MeSH
- Humulus genetika virologie MeSH
- nemoci rostlin genetika virologie MeSH
- transkriptom * MeSH
- viroidy patogenita MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
