RNA-seq of life stages of the oomycete Phytophthora infestans reveals dynamic changes in metabolic, signal transduction, and pathogenesis genes and a major role for calcium signaling in development

Spore formation and germination involves the staged expression of a large subset of the transcriptome, commensurate with the importance of spores in the life cycle. A comparison of the RNA-seq results with the older microarray data indicated that information is now available for about twice the number of genes than before. Analyses based on function revealed dynamic changes in genes involved in pathogenicity, metabolism, and signaling, with diversity in expression observed within members of multigene families and between isolates. The effects of calcium signaling, a spore-induced protein kinase, and an interacting Gβ-like protein were also demonstrated experimentally. The results reveal aspects of oomycete biology that underly their success as pathogens and potential targets for crop protection chemicals.