Local and systemic stress responses in Norway spruce: Similarities in gene expression between a compatible pathogen interaction and drought stress

• DOI: 10.1016/j.pmpp.2007.09.002
• Publication Date: 2007-09-19T15:35:18Z
• Authors: Carl Gunnar Fossdal; Nina Elisabeth Nagy; Øystein Johnsen; Lars Sandved Dalen
• Keywords: Pathosystem; Drought stress; Systemic Acquired Resistance; Transcription

Local- and systemic-induced defense responses were investigated in the Norway spruce–Rhizoctonia sp. pathosystem and compared with drought alone or a combination of the two stresses using real-time reverse transcription (RT)-PCR. The compatible pathogen stress resulted in a transient systemic induction of selected defense-related gene transcripts in the shoot and a persistent local induction in the roots. Drought led to a similar but delayed host response, while the combined stress gave larger and earlier changes in transcripts than for the two stresses separately. Thus, distinguishing between the effect of a root infection and drought based on systemic transcription patterns may be feasible especially when the temporal expression patterns are closely monitored. r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.