Modeling of the jasmonate signaling pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana with respect to pathophysiology of Alternaria blight in Brassica

Abstract

The productivity of Oilseed Brassica, one of the economically important crops of India, is seriously affected by the disease, Alternaria blight. The disease is mainly caused by two major necrotrophic fungi, Alternaria brassicae and Alternaria brassicicola which are responsible for significant yield losses. Till date, no resistant source is available against Alternaria blight, hence plant breeding methods can not be used to develop disease resistant varieties. Jasmonate mediated signalling pathway, which is known to play crucial role during defense response against necrotrophs, could be strengthened in Brassica plants to combat the disease. Since scanty information is available in Brassica-Alternaria pathosystems at molecular level therefore, in the present study efforts have been made to model jasmonic acid pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana to simulate the dynamic behaviour of molecular species in the model. Besides, the developed model was also analyzed topologically for investigation of the hubs node. COI1 is identified as one of the promising candidate genes in response to Alternaria and other linked components of plant defense mechanisms against the pathogens. The findings from present study are therefore informative for understanding the molecular basis of pathophysiology and rational management of Alternaria blight for securing food and nutritional security.