Identification of Wood Decay Related Genes from Piptoporus Betulinus (Bull. Fr.) Karsten Using Differential Display Reverse Transcription PCR (DDRT-PCR)

ABSTRACT

Piptoporus betulinus (Bull. Fr.) Karsten causes brown rot on the wood of weakened birch species. Little work has been published on the molecular mechanism of its wood decaying. In this study differential display reverse transcription PCR (DDRT-PCR) was used to isolate wood decay genes from P. betulinus, which were induced in the wood samples of white birch. We found that 29 differentially expressed cDNA bands (∼4.7%) were especially specific to cDNA samples from the mycelia of P. betulinus inoculated wood samples. Additionly, 12 transcripts from P. betulinus were induced during wood decay. These 12 clones were isolated, cloned and sequenced. Seven of them were highly homologous to known genes including pre-mRNA splicing factor syf2, arabinose 5-phosphate isomerase, alpha/beta hydrolase, lytic transglycosylase, polysaccharide deacetylase, inositol monophosphatase and glucoamylase-like protein. These results suggested that the process of decaying birch wood by P. betulinus was intricate, involving enzyme or protein changes.

Keywords:

• Betula platyphylla Suk.
• differential display reverse transcription PCR
• wood decay