Deciphering the underlying immune network of the potato defense response inhibition by Phytophthora infestans nuclear effector Pi07586 through transcriptome analysis

Phytophthora infestans, a highly destructive plant oomycete pathogen, is responsible for causing late blight in potatoes worldwide. To successfully infect host cells and evade immunity, P. infestans secretes various effectors into exclusively targets the nucleus. However, precise mechanisms by which these manipulate gene expression reprogram defenses remain poorly understood. In this study, we focused on nuclear-targeted effector, Pi07586, has been implicated immune suppression. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis showed Pi07586 was significant up-regulation during early stages of infection. Agrobacterium-induced transient revealed that localized nucleus leaf cells. Overexpression resulted increased colonization infestans. RNA-seq effectively suppressed PR-1C-like photosynthetic antenna protein genes. Furthermore, high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) indicated overexpression led to substantial decrease abscisic acid (ABA), jasmonic (JA), jasmonoyl-isoleucine (JA-Ile) levels, while not affecting salicylic (SA) indole-3-acetic (IAA) production. These findings shed new light modulation immunity enhance our understanding intricate relationship between plants.