Plant & Animal Genomes XIII Conference

January 15-19, 2005
Town & Country Convention Center
San Diego, CA

Isolation Of ESTs From Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) Leaves Treated With Inducers Of The Defense Response

Joseph A. Verica¹ , Siela N. Maximova¹ , Mary D. Strem² , John E. Carlson³ , Bryan A. Bailey² , Mark J. Guiltinan¹

¹  Department of Horticulture, College of Agricultural Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802

²  United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Alternate Crops and Systems Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705

³  Department of Forest Resources, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802.

Pathogens are a major constraint to cacao (Theobroma cacao) production. Activation of defense responses is controlled, in part, by signal transduction pathways mediated by the endogenous signaling molecules salicylic acid, jasmonic acid and ethylene. We have employed subtracted cDNA libraries, macroarray analysis, high-throughput DNA sequencing and bioinformatics to identify cacao genes induced by these signaling molecules. We also investigated gene induction by Nep1, an elicitor-like protein from Fusarium that induces a hypersensitive-like response. We have screened 8600 SSH cDNA clones and identified a unigene set of 1,256 members, including 330 members representing genes induced during the defense response.