Differential gene expression in loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) challenged with the fusiform rust fungus, Cronartium quercuum f.sp. fusiforme

Cronartium quercuum f.sp. fusiforme is the pathogen that incites fusiform rust disease of southern pine species. To date, a number of host resistance genes have been mapped. Although genomic mapping studies have provided valuable information on the genetic basis of disease interactions in this pine-rust pathosystem, the interaction at the molecular level is poorly understood. To further our understanding of this interaction, we implemented a microarray study to examine the differential expression of genes in pathogen-challenged progeny of a full-sib loblolly pine family known to be segregating at a single dominant resistance gene (Fr1). Statistical analyses revealed shifts in gene expression that may reflect discrete stages of gall development.