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Alternaria brassicae interactions with the model Brassicaceae member Arabidopsis thaliana closely resembles those with Mustard (Brassica juncea)

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Abstract

Alternaria leaf blight, a disease of oilseed Brassicas is caused by a necrotrophic phytopathogenic fungus Alternaria brassicae. The details of its pathogenesis and defence responses elicited in the host upon infection have not been thoroughly investigated. Here, Arabidopsis accession Gre-0 was identified to be highly susceptible to A. brassicae. A comparative histopathological analysis for disease progression and plant responses to A. brassicae in Arabidopsis and Brassica juncea revealed significant similarities between the two compatible pathosystems. Interestingly, in both the compatible hosts, ROS accumulation, cell death and callose deposition correlated with the development of the disease. Based on our results we propose that Arabidopsis-Alternaria brassicae can be an apt model pathosystem since it emulates the dynamics of the pathogen interaction with its natural host- Brassicas. The existing genetic diversity in Arabidopsis can be a starting point to screen for variation in responses to Alternaria leaf blight. Furthermore, several tools available for Arabidopsis can facilitate the dissection of genetic and molecular basis of resistance.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Nottingham Arabidopsis Stock Center (NASC) for distribution of Arabidopsis accession. We acknowledge Central Instrument Facility-University of Delhi, South Campus and Centre for Genetically Modifies Crop Plants, University of Delhi for sharing plant growth space. This work was financially supported by the grants from Science and engineering Research Board (SB/FT/LS-327/2012) and Department Of Biotechnology (BT/PR13379/GBD/27/263/2009) and research fellowship to Sayanti Mandal and Sivasubramanian Rajarammohan from University Grants Commission (UGC), Government of India.

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  1. Department of Genetics, University of Delhi, South Campus, New Delhi, 110021, India

    Sayanti Mandal, Sivasubramanian Rajarammohan & Jagreet Kaur

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  1. Sayanti Mandal
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  2. Sivasubramanian Rajarammohan
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  3. Jagreet Kaur
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Correspondence to Jagreet Kaur.

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Mandal, S., Rajarammohan, S. & Kaur, J. Alternaria brassicae interactions with the model Brassicaceae member Arabidopsis thaliana closely resembles those with Mustard (Brassica juncea). Physiol Mol Biol Plants 24, 51–59 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12298-017-0486-z

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