Transcriptomic analysis of orange fruit treated with pomegranate peel extract (PGE)

Imen Belgacem, Sonia Pangallo, Ahmed Abdelfattah, Flora V. Romeo, Santa O. Cacciola, Maria G. Li Destri Nicosia, Gabriele Ballistreri, Leonardo Schena*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

A Pomegranate Peel Extract (PGE) has been proposed as a natural antifungal substance with a wide range of activity against plant diseases. Previous studies showed that the extract has a direct antimicrobial activity and can elicit resistance responses in plant host tissues. In the present study, the transcriptomic response of orange fruit toward PGE treatments was evaluated. RNA-seq analyses, conducted on wounded fruits 0, 6, and 24 h after PGE applications, showed a significantly di_erent transcriptome in treated oranges as compared to control samples. The majority (273) of the deferentially expressed genes (DEGs) were highly up-regulated compared to only 8 genes that were down-regulated. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis showed the involvement of 1233 gene ontology (GO) terms and 35 KEGG metabolic pathways. Among these, important defense pathways were induced and antibiotic biosynthesis was the most enriched one. These findings may explain the underlying preventive and curative activity of PGE against plant diseases.

Original languageEnglish
Article number101
JournalPlants
Volume8
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Orange
  • PGE
  • Plant defense
  • Pomegranate peel extract
  • RNA-seq
  • Transcriptomics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Ecology
  • Plant Science

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