Abstract:

To screen the differentially expressed genes for resistance to Fusarium wilt in two cultivated varieties of black-seeded pumpkin (Cucurbita ficifolia) named ‘White Peel’ and ‘Green Peel with White’, and explore metabolic pathway involved in resistance, two varieties seedling leaves infected by Fusarium oxysporum for 2 days and uninfected by Fusarium oxysporum were used as materials, and transcriptome sequencing was performed by using Illumina Hiseq 2500 sequencing technology. Compared to the uninfected seedlings, there were 2082 and 1116 differentially expressed genes in ‘White Peel’ and ‘Green Peel with White’, respectively. Among them, 141 genes showed differential expression, and 62 genes had the same expression trend. Go functional annotation to differentially expressed genes showed that they were mainly enriched in biological processes. KEGG metabolic pathway analysis revealed that 22 differentially expressed genes were significantly enriched in the plant hormone signaling pathway in the ‘White Peel’, while 30 differentially expressed genes were enriched in the phenylpropane biosynthesis pathway in ‘Green Peel with White’. In this study, differentially expressed genes for resistance to Fusarium wilt in Cucurbita ficifolia were identified and the resistance pathway was predicted, which laid a theoretical foundation for further research on the resistance mechanism of melons.

Key words: Cucurbita ficifolia, Fusarium oxysporum, disease resistance mechanism, transcriptome sequencing, differentially expressed genes