TRANSCRIPTOMIC AND PROTEOMIC STUDIES TO INVESTIGATE THE BASAL STEM ROT DISEASE IN OIL PALM SEEDLINGS

When oil palm is exposed to, and infected by Ganoderma boninense, the initial defence system is launched in the roots to reduce the damage caused by the disease. The present work described the transcript and protein profiles in roots of 18 months old oil palm seedlings that were exposed to the fungal pathogen for 12 months, following artificial inoculation at six months old. Three different phenotypes were observed; control (uninoculated), asymptomatic, and symptomatic (inoculated). It was found that the transcripts from the ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis pathway were common in control and asymptomatic seedlings; while proteins involved in cellular processes, and protein and sugar metabolisms were higher in abundance in asymptomatic seedlings. The transcripts involved in carbon fixation, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, and pyruvate metabolism together with proteins responsible for stress response were identified in symptomatic seedlings. By integrating these omics data, it was observed that symptomatic seedlings were moving towards generating and storing energy for a possible defence strategy, and at the same time emitting stress signals and responses. This was in contrast with asymptomatic seedlings where regular functions such as cellular processes and carbohydrate metabolisms were found to be active.