RESULTS: A set of sequences retrieved from IBD virus-infected chickens that did not map to the chicken reference genome were de novo assembled, clustered and analysed. From six inbred chicken lines, we managed to assemble 10,828 uni-transcripts and screened 618 uni-transcripts which were the most significant sequences to known genes, as determined by BLASTX searches. Based on the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) analysis, 12 commonly upregulated and 18 downregulated uni-genes present in all six inbred lines were identified with false discovery rate of q-value
METHODS: The genome sequence was used as a reference to study gene expression during growth in a starved carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) environment with minimal sugar and sawdust as initial energy sources. This study was conducted to mimic possible limitations of the C-N nutrient sources during the growth of G. boninense in oil palm plantations.
RESULTS: Genome sequencing of an isolate collected from a palm tree in West Malaysia generated an assembly of 67.12 Mb encoding 19,851 predicted genes. Transcriptomic analysis from a time course experiment during growth in this starvation media identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that were found to be associated with 29 metabolic pathways. During the active growth phase, 26 DEGs were related to four pathways, including secondary metabolite biosynthesis, carbohydrate metabolism, glycan metabolism and mycotoxin biosynthesis. G. boninense genes involved in the carbohydrate metabolism pathway that contribute to the degradation of plant cell walls were up-regulated. Interestingly, several genes associated with the mycotoxin biosynthesis pathway were identified as playing a possible role in pathogen-host interaction. In addition, metabolomics analysis revealed six metabolites, maltose, xylobiose, glucooligosaccharide, glycylproline, dimethylfumaric acid and arabitol that were up-regulated on Day2 of the time course experiment.
CONCLUSIONS: This study provides information on genes expressed by G. boninense in metabolic pathways that may play a role in the initial infection of the host.