Influence of Cochliobolus miyabeanus and silicon on gene expression in rice leaves (Oryza sativa L.)

Although Cochliobolus miyabeanus is an important fungal leaf pathogen on rice plants worldwide, it is largely neglected by molecular plant phytopathologists. To shed new light on the molecular and genetic basis of the rice – C. miyabeanus interaction, we compared the transcriptome of rice leaves 12h post inoculation to uninfected leaves. Even though usable sources of resistance against brown spot disease caused by C. miyabeanus are scarce, silicon application emerges as a sustainable protection strategy. Many articles report the beneficial effect of silicon on brown spot resistance. however the underlying mechanisms remain largely unclear. The influence of silicon application on the transcriptome of healthy and infected rice leaves 12hpi was compared as well in an attempt to disentangle the modulation of silicon-induced brown spot resistance. Comparison between C. miyabeanus- and mock-infected rice leaves 12h post inoculation. This study consist of a 2 x 2 factorial design (infected and non-infected; untreated and silicon-treated) in three biological replicates.