RNA-seq based study on plant-fungi interaction in melon plant

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K17626
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Horticultural science; Science in genetics and breeding
• Research Institution: National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (2018); University of Tsukuba (2017)
• Principal Investigator: Yano Ryoichi 国立研究開発法人農業・食品産業技術総合研究機構, 高度解析センター, 主任研究員 (00443044)
• Research Collaborator: EZURA Hiroshi ; NONAKA Satoko ; FUJIUCHI Naomichi
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: ゲノム科学 / トランスクリプトーム解析 / 菌叢解析 / フィールドオミックス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Although melon is an important source of vitamins and minerals for human, some cultivars (e.g. Japanese Earl’s favorite series melons) are known to produce valuable fruits with rich flavor and sweet taste. However, some of the high-grade melon cultivars are sensitive to fungal diseases such as powdery mildew which sometimes causes severe economic loss in agriculture. In addition to powdery mildew, many fungi are likely to be present on the surface of the melon plants grown under field conditions. To promote breeding of disease resistant cultivar, it is important to investigate plant-fungi interaction under field conditions. In this study, RNA-seq data were collected from melon plants, and a bioinformatics method was considered to simultaneously analyze fungi composition and plant transcriptome based on a single RNA-seq data.

Free Research Field

バイオインフォマティクス

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

ウリ科植物には、メロンの他にカボチャ、キュウリなど農業生産上重要な園芸作物が存在する。いずれもうどんこ等の病原菌への抵抗性が望まれる作物であり、本研究で考案したRNA-seqに基づく一斉解析の手法はこれらのウリ科作物の研究においても応用が可能である。今後、より大規模なRNA-seqデータを圃場環境で収集した際には、菌類のプロファイルとトランスクリプトーム情報の統合解析が実施できると考えている。このような試みで得られた遺伝子解析情報は、将来の病害抵抗性品種の育成や重要遺伝子の発見のために役立つことが期待される。