Norway Spruce Cultured Cells Chitosan & C.polonica Stress

Conifer-specific responses to elicitation with the chemical elicitor chitosan have been investigated using a transcriptome analysis in Norway spruce using a cell suspension culture system that has been previously described (Phillips, Walter et al. 2007). This study has demonstrated that the early events following chitosan elicitation include calcium mediated signaling and an oxidative response that have not previously been described in intact trees. Keywords: stress response A factorial hybridization design with dye balance was chosen to assess gene expression among the untreated control cells, the four time points of cells treated with chitsan (i.e., 15 min, 30 min, 45 min and 2h), and cells treated with the heat-killed Ceratocystis polonica fungus (30 min). Each of the eight biological replicates for each treatment and time point were hybridized only once for a total of 24 hybridizations.