Gene mining to discover pumpkin response genes to gummy stem blight infection caused by Stagonosporopsis cucurbitacearum

Pumpkin is one of the region's main cashcrops in northeast China cultivated for its edible seed and sarcocarp. Gummy stem blight (GSB), caused by the main pathogenic fungus of Stagonosporopsis cucurbitacearum (Sc.) which was identified in our previous study, has hampered pumpkin industry development with the affection of its reduced biological yield and edible quality. To clear the plant immune response mechanisms against Sc. infection, RNA-seq technology was employed to sequence pumpkin leaf transcriptome, the total number of distinct differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the treatments and control was 2351, 4892, 5285, 4698, and 4213 for 2, 6, 12, 24, and 96 h treatments, respectively. KEGG analysis results revealed 16 distinct significantly up-regulated DEGs associated with MAPK signaling and plant-pathogen interaction pathways that may actively participate in Sc. infection-associated processes, while other five DEGs exhibited significantly altered expression during GSB infection. An apyrase-like gene, Gene3360 (LOC111476496), with significantly different expression levels, was possessing an early-stage primary infection-based function, which was hypothesized an important role in the resistance of pumpkin to Sc. infection. This study further deepens our understanding of the mechanism and mechanism of pumpkin leaf resistance to fungal infection.