Transcriptomics of Catharanthus roseus upon challenge with Manduca sexta in local and distal leaves.

Young larvae of Manduca sexta (L3/L4, reared on artificial diet and starved overnight) were allowed to fed on Catharanthus roseus plantlets (8-weeks old, grown at 28°C under 60% relative humidity in a greenhouse). After 2h of feeding, caterpillars were removed and leaves were harvested at 6, 8, 24 and 168h. Control leaves were sampled on intact plants. The time 168h correspond to the RNA extracted from intact, newly emerged young leaves. RNA were extracted using the Trizol procedure and following the manufacturer's recommendations.