Transcriptome analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana plants in response to kin and stranger recognition

Recent reports have demonstrated that Arabidopsis thaliana has the ability to alter its growth differentially when grown in the presence of secretions from other A. thaliana plants that are kin or strangers; however, little knowledge has been gained as to the physiological processes involved in these plant-plant interactions. Therefore, we examined the root transcriptome of A. thaliana plants exposed to stranger vs. kin secretions to determine genes involved in these processes. We conducted a whole transcriptome analysis on root tissues and categorized genes with significant changes in expression. Genes from four categories of interest based on significant changes in expression were identified as ATP/GST transporter, auxin/auxin related, secondary metabolite and pathogen response genes. Multiple genes in each category were tested and results indicated that pathogen response genes were involved in the kin recognition response. Plants were then infected with Pseudomonas syringe pv. Tomato DC3000 to further examine the role of these genes in plants exposed to own, kin and stranger secretions in pathogen resistance. This study concluded that multiple physiological pathways are involved in the kin recognition. The possible implication of this study opens up a new dialog in terms of how plant-plant interactions change under a biotic stress.