Transcriptome-based identification of genes related to resistance against Botrytis elliptica in Lilium regale

A major production constraint of lilies is gray mold caused by the necrotrophic fungus Botrytis elliptica. The molecular basis of lily plant resistance to B. elliptica remains largely unexplored. To systematically dissect the transcriptomic responses, we constructed four RNA-seq libraries from the leaves of Lilium regale, a promising Chinese wild Lilium species, after B. elliptica infection for 0, 4, 12 or 24 h. The sequence reads were assembled into 96,416 unigenes, of which 7,697 were differentially expressed. The profiling analysis revealed changes in gene expression, including 2,261 downregulated genes and 3,599 upregulated genes. qRT-PCR of 39 defense-related unigenes confirmed that the transcriptional changes of these genes presented in the RNA-seq data were predominately affected by B. elliptica infection. Key B. elliptica-modulated genes played roles in defense responses mediated by phytohormones involved in jasmonate (JA) signaling, whereas salicylic acid (SA) and ethylene (ET) were not involved....