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Projeto de investigação
Molecular and histological approaches to unravel Castanea spp. responses to P. cinnamomi infection
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Dual transcriptomic analysis reveals early induced Castanea defense-related genes and Phytophthora cinnamomi effectors
Publication . Fernandes, Patrícia; Pimentel, Diana; Ramiro, Ricardo S.; Silva, Maria do Céu; Fevereiro, Pedro; Costa, Rita Lourenço
Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands devastates forest species worldwide, causing
significant ecological and economic impacts. The European chestnut (Castanea
sativa) is susceptible to this hemibiotrophic oomycete, whereas the Asian
chestnuts (Castanea crenata and Castanea mollissima) are resistant and have
been successfully used as resistance donors in breeding programs. The
molecular mechanisms underlying the different disease outcomes among
chestnut species are a key foundation for developing science-based control
strategies. However, these are still poorly understood. Dual RNA sequencing was
performed in C. sativa and C. crenata roots inoculated with P. cinnamomi. The
studied time points represent the pathogen’s hemibiotrophic lifestyle previously
described at the cellular level. Phytophthora cinnamomi expressed several genes
related to pathogenicity in both chestnut species, such as cell wall–degrading
enzymes, host nutrient uptake transporters, and effectors. However, the
expression of effectors related to the modulation of host programmed cell
death (elicitins and NLPs) and sporulation-related genes was higher in the
susceptible chestnut. After pathogen inoculation, 1,556 and 488 genes were
differentially expressed by C. crenata and C. sativa, respectively. The most
significant transcriptional changes occur at 2 h after inoculation (hai) in
C. sativa and 48 hai in C. crenata. Nevertheless, C. crenata induced more
defense-related genes, indicating that the resistant response to P. cinnamomi
is controlled by multiple loci, including several pattern recognition receptors,
genes involved in the phenylpropanoid, salicylic acid and ethylene/jasmonic acid
pathways, and antifungal genes. Importantly, these results validate previously observed cellular responses for C. crenata. Collectively, this study provides a
comprehensive time-resolved description of the chestnut–P. cinnamomi
dynamic, revealing new insights into susceptible and resistant host responses
and important pathogen strategies involved in disease development.
European and American chestnuts: An overview of the main threats and control efforts
Publication . Fernandes, Patrícia; Colavolpe, Maria Belen; Serrazina, Susana; Costa, Rita Lourenço
Chestnuts are multipurpose trees significant for the economy and wildlife.
These trees are currently found around the globe, demonstrating their
genetic adaptation to different environmental conditions. Several biotic
and abiotic stresses have challenged these species, contributing to the
decline of European chestnut production and the functional extinction
of the American chestnut. Several efforts started over the last century
to understand the cellular, molecular, and genetic interactions behind all
chestnut biotic and abiotic interactions. Most efforts have been toward
breeding for the primary diseases, chestnut blight and ink disease caused
by the pathogens, Cryphonectria parasitica and Phytophthora cinnamomi,
respectively. In Europe and North America, researchers have been using the
Asian chestnut species, which co-evolved with the pathogens, to introgress
resistance genes into the susceptible species. Breeding woody trees has
several limitations which can be mostly related to the long life cycles of these
species and the big genome landscapes. Consequently, it takes decades to
improve traits of interest, such as resistance to pathogens. Currently, the
availability of genome sequences and next-generation sequencing techniques
may provide new tools to help overcome most of the problems tree breeding
is still facing. This review summarizes European and American chestnut’s main
biotic stresses and discusses breeding and biotechnological efforts developed
over the last decades, having ink disease and chestnut blight as the main
focus. Climate change is a rising concern, and in this context, the adaptation
of chestnuts to adverse environmental conditions is of extreme importance
for chestnut production. Therefore, we also discuss the abiotic challenges on
European chestnuts, where the response to abiotic stress at the genetic and
molecular level has been explored
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Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
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SFRH/BD/115424/2016