The Transcriptome of Verticillium dahliae Responds Differentially Depending on the Disease Susceptibility Level of the Olive (Olea europaea L.) Cultivar

Among biotic constraints affecting olive trees cultivation worldwide, the soil-borne fungus Verticillium dahliae is considered one of the most serious threats. Olive cultivars display differential susceptibility to the disease, but our knowledge on the pathogen’s responses when infecting varieties differing in susceptibility is scarce. A comparative transcriptomic analysis (RNA-seq) was conducted in olive cultivars Picual (susceptible) and Frantoio (tolerant). RNA samples originated from roots during the first two weeks after inoculation with V. dahliae defoliating (D) pathotype. Verticillium dahliae mRNA amount was overwhelmingly higher in roots of the susceptible cultivar, indicating that proliferation of pathogen biomass is favored in ‘Picual’. A significant larger number of V. dahliae unigenes (11 fold) were only induced in this cultivar. Seven clusters of differentially expressed genes (DEG) were identified according to time-course expression patterns. Unigenes potentially coding for niche-adaptation, pathogenicity, virulence and microsclerotia development were induced in ‘Picual’, while in ‘Frantoio’ expression remained negligible or null. Verticillium dahliae D pathotype transcriptome responses are qualitatively and quantitatively different, and depend on cultivar susceptibility level. The much larger V. dahliae biomass found in ‘Picual’ roots is a consequence of both host and pathogen DEG explaining, to a large extent, the higher aggressiveness exerted over this cultivar.