Transcriptome profiling in susceptible and tolerant rubber tree clones in response to cassiicolin Cas1

Corynespora cassiicola, a fungal plant pathogen with a large host range, causes important damages in rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis), in Asia and Africa. A small secreted protein named cassiicolin was previously identified as a necrotrophic effector required for the virulence of C. cassiicola in specific rubber tree clones. The objective of this project is to decipher the cassiicolin-mediated molecular mechanisms involved in this compatible interaction.We comparatively analyzed the transcriptome of leaves treated or not with the purified cassiicolin Cas1, in two rubber clones: PB260 (susceptible) and RRIM600 (tolerant). The treatments (Cas1 or water) were applied after local abrasion of the lower leaf epidermis. Leaf fragments were collected 12 or 24 hours post-treatment, for RNA extraction. Three or four biological repeats were prepared for each condition.Libraries preparation and sequencing were conducted at GenoToul (Inra-Toulouse, France). Libraries were built using Illumina TruSeq Stranded mRNA kit (Illumina Inc., San Diego, CA, USA). Paired-end reads (2 x 150 bp) were generated using the Illumina HiSeq3000 sequencing system. RNA-Seq data processing was carried out using a custom pipeline.