Expression analyses of resistance-associated candidate genes during sugarcane-Colletotrichum falcatum Went interaction

Abstract

Sugarcane, the essential sugar and biofuel crop cultivated in tropics and subtropics worldwide, faces uncertainty in sustainable production and yield due to various biotic and abiotic factors. Among them, the fungal disease red rot (Colletotrichum falcatum) is a devastating disease that results in loss to farmers' economic livelihood and the elimination of cultivated varieties due to severe disease epidemics. Development of resistant varieties is a viable option for a sustainable solution. Studies in the past explored the sugarcane resistance mechanism that helped to understand the host defense and associated gene transcripts. In lieu of developing suitable markers associated with red rot resistance, we studied the temporal expression of nine selected red rot resistance-associated candidate gene transcripts in sugarcane x C. falcatum interaction on a set of sugarcane varieties after the pathogen challenge. The resulted expression analyses of the selected resistance-associated gene transcript showed differential expression during compatible and incompatible interactions. In the resistant variety it showed efficient defense responses as early recognition and defense response to the red rot pathogen compared to the susceptible one. Further, the selected resistance-associated gene transcripts have the potential to be explored for use in screening sugarcane varieties for red rot resistance traits