Transcriptome analysis of potato leaves in response to infection with the necrotrophic pathogen Alternaria solani

The potato early blight was caused by Alternaria solani (Aso). At present, potato early blight resistant varieties are lacking. The experiment of Aso inoculation on a.k.a. Favorita showed that the content of chlorophyll decreased continuously within 2 days after inoculation. In addition, the contents of JA-Ile, SA, ABA and IAA were determined by LC-MS.The results of two defense-related hormones showed that jasmonic acid content decreased significantly, while jasmonic acid content did not change significantly. In order to understand the difference in gene expression of potatoes infected by Aso, the 24 hpi, 36 hpi and 48 hpi transcriptome were determined. The results showed that the gene annotation and cluster analysis of DEGs revealed a variety of defense responses to Aso infection, especially the plant hormone signal transduction pathway. The differential expression of 10 DEGs was confirmed by qPCR analysis. Finally, through weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), "samonl" was determined as a key hormone-related network in the process of Aso infection in potatoes. This study provides an important clue for understanding the interaction between potato and Aso and for disease resistance breeding.