Genome-wide characterization of 2OGD superfamily for mining of susceptibility factors responding to various biotic stresses in Musa spp.

Bananas are an important staple food and cash crop, but they are vulnerable to a variety of pests and diseases that substantially reduce yield and quality. Banana diseases are challenging to control and necessitate an integrated strategy, and development of resistant cultivars is one of the effective ways of managing diseases. Lasting disease resistance is the main goal in crop improvement and resistance mediated by a single resistant (R) gene mostly lack durability. However, long-term resistance can be obtained by inactivating susceptibility factors (S), which facilitate pathogen infection and proliferation. Identification and inactivation of susceptibility factors against the major pathogens like Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc), Pseudocercospora eumusae and Pratylenchus coffeae in banana will be an effective way in developing banana varieties with more durable resistance. Downy mildew resistance 6 (DMR6) and DMR-like oxygenases (DLO1) are one such susceptibility factors and they belong to 2-oxoglutarate Fe(II) dependent oxygenases (2OGD) superfamily. 2OGDs are known to catalyze a plethora of reactions and also confer resistance to different pathogens in various crops, but not much is known about the 2OGD in Musa species. Through a comprehensive genome-wide analysis, 133 and 122 potential 2OGDs were systematically identified and categorized from the A and B genomes of banana, respectively. Real time expression of dmr6 and dlo1 genes showed positive correlation with transcriptome data upon Foc race1 and TR4 infection and examination of expression pattern of Macma4_04_g22670 (Ma04_g20880) and Macma4_02_g13590 (Ma02_g12040) genes revealed their involvement in Foc race1 and TR4 infections, respectively. Further the expression profile of 2OGDs, specifically Macma4_04_g25310 (Ma04_g23390), Macma4_08_g11980 (Ma08_g12090) and Macma4_04_g38910 (Ma04_g36640) shows that they may play a significant role as a susceptibility factor, particularly against P. eumusae and P. coffeae , implying that they can be exploited as a candidate gene for editing in developing resistant cultivars against these diseases. In summary, our findings contribute to a deeper comprehension of the evolutionary and functional aspects of 2OGDs in Musa spp. Furthermore, they highlight the substantial functions of these family constituents in the progression of diseases. These insights hold significance in the context of enhancing the genetic makeup of bananas to attain extended and more durable resistance against pathogens.