Evolution and Expression Divergence of the Chitinase Gene Family against Leptosphaeria maculans and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum Infection in Brassica napus
XU Wen
ZHOU Tengsheng
LU Dandan
AN Sufang
HOU Jinna
LI Genyi
Abstract：Blackleg and sclerotinia stem rot caused by Leptosphaeria maculans and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum respectively are two major diseases in rapeseed worldwide,which cause serious yield losses.Chitinases are pathogenesis-related proteins and play important roles in host resistance to various pathogens and abioticstress responses.However,a systematic investigation of the chitinase gene family and its expression profile against L.maculans and S.sclerotiorum infection in rapeseed remains elusive.In this study,68 chitinase genes were identified in Brassica napus genome.These genes were divided into five different classes and distributed among 15 chromosomes.Evolutionary analysis indicated that the expansion of the chitinase gene family was mainly attributed to segmental and tandem duplication.Moreover,the expression profile of the chitinase gene family was investigated using RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and the results revealed that some chitinase genes were both induced while the other members exhibited distinct expression in response to L.maculans and S.sclerotiorum infection.Thus,the functions of different chitinase gene family members have diverged during long-term evolution and might exhibit different roles against different disease stresses in Brassica napus.
Keywords：Brassica napuschitinase gene familyexpression patternLeptosphaeria maculansSclerotinia sclerotiorum
Publication Date：2020-02-15
Online Publishing Date：2026-09-12(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：15( 89-103 )