Analysis of Transcriptome Differences in the Root System, Leaves, and Corms between Healthy and Fusarium Wilt-Diseased Baodaojiao Banana Plants

Abstract

Banana Fusarium wilt is a devastating disease threatening the production of many agricultural plants, with no effective and radical control measures identified and applied to date. At present, one of the most effective ways to manage the diseases by selecting, breeding, and cultivating banana varieties with very high Fusarium wilt resistance. To this end, this study utilized transcriptome sequencing technology to analyze Fusarium wilt resistance in the root system, leaves, and corms of healthy and diseased Baodaojiao banana (Fusarium wilt resistance variety) plants. The DEGs identified in the roots, leaves, and corms included transcription factors such as bHLH, WRKY, NAC, ERF, the enzymes mannan synthase, alkaline/neutral invertase, galacturonosyltransferase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase kinase, and other related enzyme genes. Additionally, among the differentially expressed enzyme genes involved in plant defense processes (peroxidase, glutathione S-transferase, β-glucosidase, laccase, cellulose synthase, and chitinase), peroxidase was the most abundant. Moreover, most of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were expressed at markedly higher levels in healthy plants than in diseased plants, and such peroxidase genes may be significantly associated with plant Fusarium wilt resistance. The results of this study provide the basis for the study of the molecular defense mechanisms of Baodaojiao banana plants against Fusarium wilt; provide reference data for the further exploration of the functions and complex network regulatory mechanisms of Fusarium wilt resistance genes.