Transcriptome analysis of maize leaves in response to Cochliobolus heterostrophus

Southern leaf blight (SLB), caused by the necrotrophic fungal pathogen Cochliobolus heterostrophus (anamorph Bipolaris maydis), is a major foliar disease which causes significant yield losses in maize worldwide. A leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase gene ChSK1 (Cochliobolus heterostrophus Susceptibility Kinase 1) was confirmed to confer quantitative susceptibility to SLB in maize. The plant material chsk1-3 was an EMS mutant of ChSK1, and WT1-3 was the wildtype. To explore signaling pathways in which ChSK1 may be involved, we performed an RNA-seq analysis using WT1-3 and chsk1-3 plants infected with C. heterostrophus or mock solution at 6 hpi. The fourth leaves were spray-inoculated with C. heterostrophus race O spores suspension or mock solution. Three biological replicates were used for RNA-seq analysis.