35th NPS abstract book

P33
Transcriptome sequencing reveals new insights into the interaction of
European chestnut with the causal agent of chestnut blight
J. QUINTANA 1, 2 , I. MERINO 1 , A. CONTRERAS 1 , G. OROZCO 1 , A. VINUESA 1 , F.O. ASIEGBU 2 and L.
GÓMEZ 1
1 Center for Plant Biotechnology and Genomics, Polytechnic University, 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón,
Spain; 2 Department of Forest Sciences, Helsinki University, Latokartanonkaari 7, FIN- 00014, Finland
European chestnut is a multipurpose tree with a diversification history tightly linked to human
management. Nonetheless, several diseases have diminished its natural range and economic impact.
Chestnut blight, caused by the ascomycete Cryphonectria parasitica, is a prominent example. Here
we present the first transcriptome reconstruction of European chestnut after challenge with this
pathogen. Four libraries were constructed and an Illumina HiSeq2000 platform was used to generate
over 90 million reads. De novo assembly produced 104,310 contigs. Extensive analysis on the
functional annotation of Differentially Expressed Transcripts (DEGs) revealed that JA/ET-mediated
signalling pathways are crucial to fine-tune defense response. The large number of DEGs encoding
transcription factors evidences a deep transcriptional reprograming, which leads to the upregulation
of several genes encoding for proteins with potential antimicrobial activity. Our results represent a
valuable source of information to be used in programs aimed to develop resistant cultivars.
P34
Functional genomics of developmental programmed cell death in the Norway
spruce embryo-suspensor
S. H. REZA 1 , N. DELHOMME 2 , N. R. STREET 2 , O. NILSSON 3 , H. TUOMINEN 2 , E. A. MININA 1 and P. V.
BOZHKOV 1
1 Department of Plant Biology, Uppsala BioCenter, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and
Linnean Center for Plant Biology, SE-75007 Uppsala, Sweden; 2 Umeå Plant Science Centre,
Department of Plant Physiology, Umeå University, 90187, Umeå, Sweden; 3 Umeå Plant Science
Centre, Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Swedish University of Agricultural
Sciences, 901 83 Umeå, Sweden
In Norway spruce (Picea abies) the embryo-suspensor is composed of several layers of terminally
differentiated cells, originating from asymmetric cell divisions in the embryonal mass. While the cells
in the upper layer of the suspensor (i.e. adjacent to the embryonal mass) are in the commitment
phase of PCD, the cells in the lower layers exhibit a gradient of successive stages of vacuolar cell
death towards the basal end of the suspensor where hollow walled cell corpses are located. The goal
of this study is to find out a critical subset of genes, required for vacuolar cell death in the Norway
spruce embryo-suspensor. We performed deep sequencing of RNA isolated from the suspensors and
the embryonal masses of embryogenic cell line 88:22 and identified 136 up- and 31 down-regulated
transcripts in the suspensors. Up-regulated transcripts were enriched with cell death-related genes
and genes encoding proteins involved in catabolic processes. Our next goal is to investigate the role
of these genes in the cell death and embryo development using reverse genetics.
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