New Phytologist (2013) 200, 1225-1233

Megan LeBlanc, Gunjune Kim, Beneeta Patel, Verlyn Stromberg and James Westwood (2013)
Quantification of tomato and Arabidopsis mobile RNAs trafficking into the parasitic plant Cuscuta pentagona
New Phytologist 200 (4), 1225-1233
Abstract: The cross-species movement of mRNA from hosts to the parasitic plant Cuscuta pentagona has been reported previously, but has not been characterized quantitatively or with attention to uptake patterns and the fate of specific mRNAs.
Real-time PCR and RNA-Seq approaches were used to identify and characterize mobile transcripts from tomato and Arabidopsis hosts into C. pentagona.
Tomato transcripts of Gibberellic Acid Insensitive (SlGAI) and Cathepsin D Proteinase Inhibitor (SlPI) differed significantly in the rate of uptake into the parasite, but were then distributed over the length of the parasite shoot. When parasite shoots were detached from the hosts, the SlPI transcript concentrations in the parasite showed the greatest decrease within the first 8 h. Arabidopsis transcripts also varied in mobility into the parasite, and assay of specific regions of a Salt-inducible Zinc Finger Protein (AtSZF1) transcript revealed distinct patterns of abundance in the parasite.
The uptake and distribution of host mRNAs into C. pentagona appears to vary among mRNAs, and perhaps even with the region of the mRNA under investigation. We propose that mRNAs traffic into the parasite via multiple routes, or that other mechanisms for selective uptake and mobility exist between host and parasite.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): James H. Westwood

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
molecular biology - genes
environment - cropping system/rotation

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Cuscuta pentagona (weed)