Effect of Soft Rot on Changes in Endogenous Hormone Content and Transcript Levels of Related Genes in Konjac

PurposeTo understand the changes in endogenous hormone content of konjac after infection by soft rot disease.

MethodHigh performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to determine the changes in the contents of endogenous hormones such as growth hormone (IAA), salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), gibberellin (GA₃), and abscisic acid (ABA) in the konjac variety Anmo 128, which was resistant to soft rot before and after the head change period. The differences in the expression of genes related to hormone pathways were analyzed by integrating RNA-seq sequencing data.

ResultSoft rot infection caused changes in the levels of various endogenous hormones in konjac, among which the contents of IAA, SA and ABA tended to increase and then decrease with the soft rot infection, and their contents decreased after the head change period, but were still higher than the control; the content of JA gradually increased with soft rot infection; the content of GA₃ increased and then decreased, but the final content were lower than the control. The results of RT-qPCR expression level verification of 10 genes related to hormone pathway were consistent with the changes of hormone content.

ConclusionThe content of the hormone showed an increasing trend at the beginning of the infection, indicating that the pathogen invasion activated the expression of genes related to the hormone pathway, but then the content decreased, presumably due to the partial shutdown of the resistance pathway as the soft rot progressed. This study provides a theoretical basis for resolving the pathogenesis of soft rot infection.