Spatio-temporal transcriptional effects of compatible pathogen attack in tomato

Numerous studies have demonstrated that plant species react at the transcriptional level to an attack by a compatible pathogen. As in incompatible reactions, the transcriptional changes are not forcefully restricted to the infection site, but may extend to the surrounding tissue as well. By means of quantitative real-time PCR, we studied the spatial regulation of genes within tomato leaves (Solanum lycopersicum) challenged with the late blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans and the gray mold Botrytis cinerea at 24 h post-infection. In parallel, the temporal regulation of tomato genes was observed at 3-h intervals during the first 24 h of disease.