(24-01-25) Successful Bachelor (Maastricht Science Program) period 3 project

Abstract

Biotic stress, such as exposure to bacterial and fungal pathogens, represents a significant threat to agricultural productivity. This study examined how biosynthetic and signalling pathways are activated in Solanum lycopersicum (tomato plant) during bacterial and fungal infections. RNA-sequencing data was analysed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) under these stress conditions, focusing on mapping them to key biosynthetic and signalling pathways identified from the literature. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying plant responses against biotic elicitors can facilitate agricultural developments in crop resilience. The results reveal distinct molecular responses to bacterial and fungal infections, with fungal stress eliciting a broader range of DEGs compared to bacterial stress; the fungal infections activated tomatidine biosynthesis, oxylipin metabolism, JA signalling, and MAPK signalling, whilst SA signalling, flavonoid biosynthesis, falcarindiol biosynthesis, HCAA, and oxylipin biosynthesis was dual-activated. The expression profiles revealed condition-specific and time-specific differences within the commonly activated pathways. Differential expression analysis highlighted overlapping and unique gene expression patterns across conditions, providing insights into how plants orchestrate defence mechanisms. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of plant-pathogen interactions and lays a foundation for strategies to enhance plant immunity, such as the development of disease-resistant crops and targeted agricultural interventions.