Bark and wood tissues of American elm exhibit distinct responses to Dutch elm disease

Abstract Tolerance to Dutch elm disease (DED) has been linked to the rapid and/or high induction of disease-responsive genes after infection with the fungus Ophiostoma novo - ulmi . Although the fungal infection by O . novo-ulmi primarily takes places in xylem vessels, it is still unclear how xylem contributes to the defense against DED. Taking advantage of the easy separation of wood and bark tissues in young American elm saplings, here we show that most disease-responsive genes exhibited higher expression in wood compared to bark tissues after fungal infection. On the other hand, the stress-... Mehr ...