Nicotiana tabacum Transcriptome or Gene expression

We analyzed the global defense responses in common tobacco against a begomovirus Tomato yellow leaf curl China virus, an invasive whitefly species Middle East-Asia Minor 1, and their co-infestation. The transcripts of defense related genes were both overlapping and divergent in response to virus and whitefly. Overall design: Four treatments were conducted, and they include mock inoculated plants, TYLCCNV infected plants, whitefly infested plants, and plants co-infested with TYLCCNV and whitefly. Plants at the 3-4 true-leaf stage were inoculated with TYLCCNV and its DNA-beta and cultivated to the 6-7 true-leaf stage at 22 days post-inoculation. For the whitefly feeding treatment, approximately 6,000 adult whiteflies that emerged from the tobacco plants were allowed to distribute randomly onto the leaves of six mock inoculated plants in one cage, and 6,000 adult whiteflies that emerged from the tobacco plants were released onto the leaves of six virus infected plants in another cage. After 72 h of feeding, all the adult whiteflies were discarded. Then the comparable leaves from the six plants in each of four treatments were harvested, flash-frozen in liquid N2 and stored at -80 °C.