Fusarium wilt, caused by the soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (FOC), is a destructive disease that targets the vascular system of banana plants, resulting in wilting and eventual death. FOC can be divided into four physiological races 1, 2, 3, and 4 according to their ability to cause disease, the range of hosts infected, and their genetic traits. FOC Races 1 and 4 have been detected in Southeast Asia. This study used proteomic analysis to identify the stress response proteins involved in the interaction between banana plants and FOC Race 1. These proteins were compared with those previously reported in Race 4 to explore the similarities and differences in plant basal defense response mechanisms against FOC. A total of 758 proteins were identified including 401 in bananas infected with FOC Race 1 and 357 in the control group. Among these, 238 were unique to the control group, while 281 were specific to the FOC Race 1-infected samples. Key stress response-related proteins including β-1,3-glucanase, lipoxygenase, chitinase, and leucine-rich repeat (LRR) disease resistance proteins exhibited expression patterns consistent with previously reported data. Notable differences were observed in the expression of heat shock proteins (HSPs), especially Hsp70, Hsp90, and stress-response A/B barrel domain-containing proteins. These proteins were predicted to function synergistically in response to FOC Race 1 infection but acted independently of the jasmonic acid signaling pathway. Our findings suggest that HSPs show potential as an alternative defense mechanism for developing strategies to manage FOC Race 1.
Jannoey et al. (Fri,) studied this question.