De novo assembly and discovery of genes involved in the response of Solanum sisymbriifolium to Verticillium dahlia.

Verticillium wilt, caused by the soil-borne fungus Verticillium dahliae, is a devastating disease of eggplant (Solanum spp.) and causes substantial losses worldwide. Although some genes or biological processes involved in the interaction between eggplant and V. dahliae have been identified in some studies, the underlying molecular mechanism is not yet clear. Here, we monitored the transcriptomic profiles of the roots of resistant S. sisymbriifolium plants challenged with V. dahliae. Based on the measurements of physiological indexes (T-SOD, POD and SSs), three time points were selected and subsequently divided into two stages (S_12 h vs. S_0 h and S_48 h vs. S_12 h). KEGG enrichment analysis of the DEGs revealed several genes putatively involved in regulating plant-V. dahliae interactions, including mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) genes (MEKK1 and MAP2K1), WRKY genes (WRKY22 and WRKY33) and cytochrome P450 (CYP) genes (CYP73A/C4H, CYP98A/C3'H and CYP84A/F5H). In addition, a subset of genes that play an important role in activating V. dahliae defence responses, including Ve genes as well as genes encoding PR proteins and TFs, were screened and are discussed. These results will help to identify key resistance genes and will contribute to a further understanding of molecular mechanisms of the S. sisymbriifolium resistance response to V. dahliae.