The mechanism of potato resistance to Globodera rostochiensis: comparison of root transcriptomes of resistant and susceptible Solanum phureja genotypes

BACKGROUND: Globodera rostochiensis belongs to major potato pathogens with a sophisticated mechanism of interaction with roots of the host plants. Resistance of commercial varieties is commonly based on specific R genes introgressed from natural populations of related wild species and from native potato varieties grown in the Andean highlands. Investigation of molecular resistance mechanisms and screening the natural populations for novel R genes are important for both fundamental knowledge on plant pathogen interactions and breeding for durable resistance. Here we exploited the Solanum phureja accessions collected in South America with contrasting resistance to G. rostochiensis. RESULTS: The infestation of S. phureja with G. rostochiensis juveniles resulted in wounding stress followed by activation of cell division and tissue regeneration processes. Unlike the susceptible S. phureja genotype, the resistant accession reacted by rapid induction of variety of stress response related genes. This chain of molecular events accompanies the hypersensitive response at the juveniles’ invasion sites and provides high-level resistance. Transcriptomic analysis also revealed considerable differences between the analyzed S. phureja genotypes and the reference genome. CONCLUSION: The molecular processes in plant roots associated with changes in gene expression patterns in response to G. rostochiensis infestation and establishment of either resistant or susceptible phenotypes are discussed. De novo transcriptome assembling is considered as an important tool for discovery of novel resistance traits in S. phureja accessions.