Transcriptome analysis of Nicotiana tabacum in response to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci infection

Tobacco wildfire disease, caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci, severely reduces tobacco yield and quality, yet the host response remains poorly understood. Here, a comprehensive transcriptomic analysis of Nicotiana tabacum infected with P. syringae pv. tabaci YH3 was performed at four developmental stages. Among the top 12 KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in the MAPK signaling pathway-plant, carbon fixation in photosynthetic organisms, plant hormone signal transduction, ribosome, plant-pathogen interaction, and RNA degradation were significantly enriched at three time points. Notably, among the identified DEGs, leucine-rich repeat receptor-like protein kinase (LRR-RLK), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), and cysteine synthase (CS) emerged as potential key regulatory genes involved in the tobacco response to P. syringae pv. tabaci YH3 infection. These findings provide a molecular framework for understanding the transcriptomic response of N. tabacum to P. syringae pv. tabaci infection and offer promising candidate genes for investigations into the interaction mechanisms between this pathogen and its host plants.