Transcriptome analysis of transgenic rice ectopically expressing the rice stripe virus p3 protein

Abstract The p3 protein, is a viral suppressor of RNA silencing (VSR), encoded by the viral strand of RNA3 in the rice stripe virus (RSV). As a VSR, p3 facilitates viral infection, but its other function in the host plant is poorly understood. This study analyzed the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of transgenic p3 gene rice using transcriptome sequencing and quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR). The transcriptome result showed 533 DEGs between transgenic p3 rice and wild-type rice, which included 214 upregulated genes and 319 downregulated genes. Among them, NB-ARC (OS11G0492300, OS06G0268500, OS11G0227100) in this study were up-regulated. Expression of kinase genes (OS10G0539600, OS03G0331700, Os05g0498900, Os02g0786900, OS03G0758250, OS04G0339800) were altered in transgenic plants, with the majority of them being down-regulated and brassinosteroid biosynthesis gene were uniquely expressed (OS03G0602300) or down-regulated (Os07g0162100) in OS_p3 plants. Because the system involving plant-pathogen interaction and brassinosteroid production is intricate, the preliminary research identified two pathways in order to set the groundwork for future research via functional analysis of candidate genes and particular route locations. The study findings enhance understanding of the interactions between VSRs and host plants.