Meta-transcriptomics indicates biotic cross-tolerance in willow trees cultivated on petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated soil

BMC Plant Biology

Research Article

Julie Marleau¹  Nicholas J. B. Brereton¹  Emmanuel Gonzalez¹  Frederic E. Pitre²  Michel Labrecque²  Simon Joly²  Werther Guidi Nissim³ 

[1] Institut de recherche en biologie végétale, University of Montreal, 4101 Sherbrooke E, H1X 2B2, Montreal, QC, Canada;Institut de recherche en biologie végétale, University of Montreal, 4101 Sherbrooke E, H1X 2B2, Montreal, QC, Canada;Montreal Botanical Gardens, 4101 Sherbrooke E, H1X 2B2, Montreal, QC, Canada;Montreal Botanical Gardens, 4101 Sherbrooke E, H1X 2B2, Montreal, QC, Canada;

关键词: Salix;    Biomass;    Transcriptomics;    Meta-transcriptomics;    Plant abiotic stress;    Plant biotic stress;    Tetranychus;    Crop physiology;    Phytoremediation;    RNA-seq;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12870-015-0636-9

 received in 2015-05-07, accepted in 2015-09-30,  发布年份 2015

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundHigh concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbon (PHC) pollution can be hazardous to human health and leave soils incapable of supporting agricultural crops. A cheap solution, which can help restore biodiversity and bring land back to productivity, is cultivation of high biomass yielding willow trees. However, the genetic mechanisms which allow these fast-growing trees to tolerate PHCs are as yet unclear.MethodsSalix purpurea ‘Fish Creek’ trees were pot-grown in soil from a former petroleum refinery, either lacking or enriched with C10-C50 PHCs. De novo assembled transcriptomes were compared between tree organs and impartially annotated without a priori constraint to any organism.ResultsOver 45 % of differentially expressed genes originated from foreign organisms, the majority from the two-spotted spidermite, Tetranychus urticae. Over 99 % of T.urticae transcripts were differentially expressed with greater abundance in non-contaminated trees. Plant transcripts involved in the polypropanoid pathway, including phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), had greater expression in contaminated trees whereas most resistance genes showed higher expression in non-contaminated trees.ConclusionsThe impartial approach to annotation of the de novo transcriptomes, allowing for the possibility for multiple species identification, was essential for interpretation of the crop’s response treatment. The meta-transcriptomic pattern of expression suggests a cross-tolerance mechanism whereby abiotic stress resistance systems provide improved biotic resistance. These findings highlight a valuable but complex biotic and abiotic stress response to real-world, multidimensional contamination which could, in part, help explain why crops such as willow can produce uniquely high biomass yields on challenging marginal land.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Gonzalez et al. 2015