A multiomics profile of coordinated defense and key candidate genes against bacterial wilt in tobacco

TL;DR

This study identifies a key gene and defense mechanisms in tobacco plants that help resist bacterial wilt disease.

Contribution

The integration of multiomics data and WGCNA with QTL mapping reveals a core candidate gene for bacterial wilt resistance in tobacco.

Findings

Resistant tobacco cultivar YY shows multitiered defense with resistance-related metabolites and hormone signaling pathways.

Transcriptomic analysis identified 818 DEGs involved in cell wall modification and stress responses.

Nta17g05760 is pinpointed as a core candidate gene within the qBWR17b locus.

Abstract

Bacterial wilt, caused by Ralstonia solanacearum, is a devastating disease that limits global tobacco production. To decipher the molecular basis of resistance, we conducted an integrated multiomics analysis of a susceptible cultivar, Honghua Dajinyuan (HD), and a moderately resistant cultivar, Yanyan 97 (YY), leveraging LC‒MS-based metabolomics and RNA-seq transcriptomics. The resistant YY cultivar exhibited coordinated multitiered defense, characterized by the accumulation of resistance-related metabolites (e.g., prenol lipids and organooxygen compounds) and the enrichment of plant hormone signaling pathways. Transcriptomic analysis revealed 818 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in cell wall modification and stress responses. Crucially, the integration of weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) with prior QTL mapping pinpointed Nta17g05760 within the qBWR17b locus as a core candidate gene. Our study systematically elucidates a defense network involving hormone signaling, cell wall reinforcement, and antimicrobial synthesis and provides a key candidate gene and theoretical foundation for the molecular breeding of wilt-resistant tobacco.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-026-36889-1.

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