Transcriptome analysis of resistant and susceptible mulberry responses to Meloidogyne enterolobii infection

BACKGROUND: Mulberry (Morus alba L.) is an important sericulture crop; however, root-knot nematode infection seriously limits its production. Understanding the mechanism of interaction between mulberry and nematode is important for control of infection. RESULTS: Using sequencing and de novo transcriptome assembly, we identified 55,894 unigenes from root samples of resistant and susceptible mulberry cultivars at different stages after infection with the nematode Meloidogyne enterolobii; 33,987 of these were annotated in the Nr, SWISS-PROT, KEGG, and KOG databases. Gene ontology and pathway enrichment analyses of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) revealed key genes involved in hormone metabolic processes, plant hormone signal transduction, flavonoid biosynthesis, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and peroxisomal and photosynthetic pathways. Analysis of key trends in co-expression networks indicated that expression of unigenes 0,015,083, 0,073,272, 0,004,006, and 0,000,628 was positively correlated with resistance to M. enterolobii. Unigene 0015083 encodes tabersonine 16-O-methyltransferase (16OMT), which is involved in alkaloid biosynthesis. Unigene 0073272 encodes a transcription factor contributing to nitric oxide accumulation during plant immune responses. Unigenes 0,004,006 and 0,000,628 encode ERF and MYB transcription factors, respectively, involved in plant hormone signaling. We verified the accuracy of transcriptome sequencing results by RT-qPCR of 21 DEGs. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study increase our understanding of the resistance mechanisms and candidate genes involved in mulberry–M. enterolobii interaction. Thus, our data will contribute to the development of effective control measures against this pathogen. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12870-021-03128-w.