Genome-wide identification and functional prediction of tobacco lncRNAs responsive to root-knot nematode stress

PLoS One. 2018 Nov 14;13(11):e0204506. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204506. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Root-knot nematodes (RKNs, Meloidogyne spp.) are destructive plant parasites with a wide host range. They severely reduce crop quality and yield worldwide. Tobacco is a versatile model plant organism for studying RKNs-host interactions and a key plant material for molecular research. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play critical roles in post transcriptional and transcriptional regulation in a wide range of biological pathways, especially plant development and stress response. In the present study, we obtained 5,206 high-confidence lncRNAs based on RNA sequencing data. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analyses revealed that the target genes of these lncRNAs are mainly involved in plant biotic and abiotic stresses, plant hormone signal transduction, induced systemic resistance, plant-type hypersensitive response, plant-type cell wall organization or biogenesis. The 565 differentially expressed lncRNAs found to be involved in nematode stress response were validated by quantitative PCR using 15 randomly-selected lncRNA genes. Our study provides insights into the molecular mechanisms of RKNs-plant interactions that might help preventing nematode damages to crops.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Genome-Wide Association Study
  • Host-Parasite Interactions / genetics*
  • Nicotiana* / genetics
  • Nicotiana* / parasitology
  • Plant Roots* / genetics
  • Plant Roots* / parasitology
  • RNA, Long Noncoding / biosynthesis
  • RNA, Long Noncoding / genetics*
  • RNA, Plant / biosynthesis
  • RNA, Plant / genetics*
  • Stress, Physiological / genetics*
  • Tylenchoidea / physiology*

Substances

  • RNA, Long Noncoding
  • RNA, Plant

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Henan province (Item number:162300410144). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.