Profilowanie ekspresji wybranych genów odpowiedzi na infekcję w interakcji Avena sativa - Puccinia coronata

The molecular basis of the oat (Avena sativa L.) response to Puccinia coronata infection has not yet been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, this research activity aimed to comparatively analyze the expression of A. sativa genes that play a key role in the most critical stages of the oat response to pathogen attack in both incompatible (resistance due to activation of defence mechanisms) and compatible (infection and disease symptom development) interactions. The plant material used included the Pc39 line (Pendek × Pc39), with the Pc39 resistance gene, the only gene used in Polish oat resistance breeding so far, and the Polish cultivar Kasztan (Dawid × CHD 1685/84) susceptible to crown rust infection. The experiment was conducted in three replications across three variants: inoculated/compatible reaction, inoculated/incompatible reaction, and uninoculated control. Samples for RNA extraction (pooled from five plants) were collected at nine time points: 0, 8, 16, 24, 32, 48, 72, 96, and 120 hours post-inoculation (hpi). Gene expression analysis focused on key stages of the oat response to pathogen attack, including the production and removal of reactive oxygen species, biosynthesis and modification of the cell wall, and the degradation of fungal cell walls—mechanisms that hinder haustorium formation and secondary infection spread. The results were normalized using a selected pair of reference genes and are part of the deposited dataset.