AUTHOR=Amil-Ruiz Francisco , Garrido-Gala José , Gadea José , Blanco-Portales Rosario , Muñoz-Mérida Antonio , Trelles Oswaldo , de los Santos Berta , Arroyo Francisco T. , Aguado-Puig Ana , Romero Fernando , Mercado José-Ángel , Pliego-Alfaro Fernando , Muñoz-Blanco Juan , Caballero José L. 

TITLE=Partial Activation of SA- and JA-Defensive Pathways in Strawberry upon Colletotrichum acutatum Interaction

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2016.01036

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2016.01036

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Understanding the nature of pathogen host interaction may help improve strawberry (<italic>Fragaria</italic> × <italic>ananassa</italic>) cultivars. Plant resistance to pathogenic agents usually operates through a complex network of defense mechanisms mediated by a diverse array of signaling molecules. In strawberry, resistance to a variety of pathogens has been reported to be mostly polygenic and quantitatively inherited, making it difficult to associate molecular markers with disease resistance genes. <italic>Colletotrichum acutatum</italic> spp. is a major strawberry pathogen, and completely resistant cultivars have not been reported. Moreover, strawberry defense network components and mechanisms remain largely unknown and poorly understood. Assessment of the strawberry response to <italic>C. acutatum</italic> included a global transcript analysis, and acidic hormones SA and JA measurements were analyzed after challenge with the pathogen. Induction of transcripts corresponding to the SA and JA signaling pathways and key genes controlling major steps within these defense pathways was detected. Accordingly, SA and JA accumulated in strawberry after infection. Contrastingly, induction of several important SA, JA, and oxidative stress-responsive defense genes, including <italic>FaPR1-1, FaLOX2, FaJAR1, FaPDF1</italic>, and <italic>FaGST1</italic>, was not detected, which suggests that specific branches in these defense pathways (those leading to <italic>FaPR1-2, FaPR2-1, FaPR2-2, FaAOS, FaPR5</italic>, and <italic>FaPR10)</italic> were activated. Our results reveal that specific aspects in SA and JA dependent signaling pathways are activated in strawberry upon interaction with <italic>C. acutatum</italic>. Certain described defense-associated transcripts related to these two known signaling pathways do not increase in abundance following infection. This finding suggests new insight into a specific putative molecular strategy for defense against this pathogen.</p>