Large-scale mRNA transfer between Haloxylon ammodendron (Chenopodiaceae) and herbaceous root holoparasite Cistanche deserticola (Orobanchaceae)
Yanyan Fan,
Qiqi Zhao,
Huimin Duan,
Shuxin Bi,
Xiaomin Hao,
Rui Xu,
Runyao Bai,
Ruonan Yu,
Wenting Lu,
Tiejun Bao,
Hada Wuriyanghan
Affiliations
Yanyan Fan
Key Laboratory of Forage and Endemic Crop Biology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010070, China
Qiqi Zhao
Key Laboratory of Forage and Endemic Crop Biology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010070, China
Huimin Duan
Key Laboratory of Forage and Endemic Crop Biology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010070, China
Shuxin Bi
Key Laboratory of Forage and Endemic Crop Biology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010070, China
Xiaomin Hao
Key Laboratory of Forage and Endemic Crop Biology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010070, China
Rui Xu
Key Laboratory of Forage and Endemic Crop Biology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010070, China
Runyao Bai
Key Laboratory of Forage and Endemic Crop Biology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010070, China
Ruonan Yu
Key Laboratory of Forage and Endemic Crop Biology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010070, China
Wenting Lu
Key Laboratory of Forage and Endemic Crop Biology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010070, China
Tiejun Bao
Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau, Ministry of Education, School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China; Corresponding author
Hada Wuriyanghan
Key Laboratory of Forage and Endemic Crop Biology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010070, China; Corresponding author
Summary: Exchanges of mRNA were shown between host and stem parasites but not root parasites. Cistanche deserticola (Orobanchaceae) is a holoparasitic herb which parasitizes on the roots of woody plant Haloxylon ammodendron (Chenopodiaceae). We used transcriptome sequencing and bioinformatic analyses to identify nearly ten thousand mobile mRNAs. Transcript abundance appears to be a driving force for transfer event and mRNA exchanges occur through haustorial junction. Mobility of selected mRNAs was confirmed in situ and in sunflower-Orobanche cumana heterologous parasitic system. Four C. deserticola →H. ammodendron mobile mRNAs appear to facilitate haustorium development. Of interest, two mobile mRNAs of putative resistance genes CdNLR1 and CdNLR2 cause root-specific hypersensitive response and retard parasite development, which might contribute to parasitic equilibrium. The present study provides evidence for the large-scale mRNA transfer event between a woody host and a root parasite, and demonstrates the functional relevance of six C. deserticola genes in host-parasite interactions.
