PR001494 (Project)

Description:Clubroot, a devastating soil-borne root disease, in Brassicaceae is caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae Woronin, an obligate biotrophic protist. Plant growth and development, as well as seed yield of Brassica crops, are severely affected due to this disease. Several reports described the molecular responses of B. napus to P. brassicae; however, information on the early stages of pathogenesis is limited. In this study, we have used metabolomics approach to characterize P. brassicae pathogenesis at 1-, 4-, and 7- days post-inoculation (DPI) in clubroot resistant (CR) and susceptible (CS) doubled-haploid (DH) lines. Several metabolites related to organic acids (e.g., citrate, pyruvate), amino acids (e.g., proline, aspartate), sugars, and mannitol, were differentially accumulated in roots in response to pathogen infection when the CR and CS genotypes were compared. Our results suggest important roles for these metabolites in mediating resistance to clubroot disease. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an integrated metabolome analysis aimed at characterizing the molecular basis of resistance to clubroot in canola.