Transcriptome profiling of Nicotiana tabacum plants infected with Pectobacterium atrosepticum

Soft rot Pectobacteriaceae (SRPs), including Pectobacterium atrosepticum, cause devastating plant diseases. Although these bacteria belong to one of the most studied phytopathogens, no genetic determinants of plant resistance/susceptibility have been revealed to date and very little information is present on physiological modification of plants during the SRP-caused disease development. In this study, we performed transcriptome profiling of Nicotiana tabacum cv. Petit Havana SR1 plants infected with P. atrosepticum SCRI1043. Two days after plant inoculation, when disease symptoms were visible, stem sections in asymptomatic stem zone (1 cm below the symptomatic, macerated area formed at the point of inoculation) were taken from the infected plants for RNA extraction (Infection sample group); the corresponding stem sections were taken from control non-infected plants (Control sample group). Libraries were sequenced in two biological replicates.