Integrative systems biology of wheat susceptibility to Fusarium graminearum uncovers a conserved gene regulatory network and identifies master regulators targeted by fungal core effectors

Abstract Background Plant diseases are driven by an intricate set of defense mechanisms counterbalanced by the expression of host susceptibility factors promoted through the action of pathogen effectors. In spite of their central role in the establishment of the pathology, the primary components of plant susceptibility are still poorly understood and challenging to trace especially in plant-fungal interactions such as in Fusarium head blight (FHB) of bread wheat. Designing a system-level transcriptomics approach, we leveraged the analysis of wheat responses from a susceptible cultivar facing Fusarium graminearum strains of different aggressiveness and examined their constancy in four other wheat cultivars also developing FHB. Results In this study, we describe unexpected differential expression of a conserved set of transcription factors and an original subset of master regulators were evidenced using a regulation network approach. The dual-integration with the expression data of pathogen effector genes combined with database mining, demonstrated robust connections with the plant molecular regulators and identified relevant candidate genes involved in plant susceptibility, mostly able to suppress plant defense mechanisms. Furthermore, taking advantage of wheat cultivars of contrasting susceptibility levels, a refined list of 142 conserved susceptibility gene candidates was proposed to be necessary host’s determinants for the establishment of a compatible interaction. Conclusions Our findings emphasized major FHB determinants potentially controlling a set of conserved responses associated with susceptibility in bread wheat. They provide new clues for improving FHB control in wheat and also could conceivably leverage further original researches dealing with a broader spectrum of plant pathogens.