Transcriptomic changes of American elm and Ophiostoma novo-ulmi during compatible and incompatible in planta interactions

Ophiostoma novo-ulmi is the highly aggressive fungal species responsible for the ongoing Dutch elm disease (DED) pandemic. Within a few decades, it has taken over the less aggressive O. ulmi which caused the first pandemic of DED. The molecular response of DED fungi to host environment is still largely unknown. Some genes were previously identified as potential pathogenicity genes. Our goal is to find genes involved in the DED resistance mechanism in American elm tolerant trees. To this end, a transcriptome analyses was performed between susceptible and resistant American elm trees infected with O. novo-ulmi sp. americana strain MH75-4O. Differential gene expression analysis showed genes upregulated in American elm resistant trees and these were further analyzed and validated via qPCR.