Global Analysis of Differentially Expressed Genes and Proteins in the Wheat Callus Infected by <i>Agrobacterium tumefacien</i>s

<div><p><i>Agrobacterium</i>-mediated plant transformation is an extremely complex and evolved process involving genetic determinants of both the bacteria and the host plant cells. However, the mechanism of the determinants remains obscure, especially in some cereal crops such as wheat, which is recalcitrant for <i>Agrobacterium</i>-mediated transformation. In this study, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were analyzed in wheat callus cells co-cultured with <i>Agrobacterium</i> by using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) in conjunction with mass spectrometry (MS). A set of 4,889 DEGs and 90 DEPs were identified, respectively. Most of them are related to metabolism, chromatin assembly or disassembly and immune defense. After comparative analysis, 24 of the 90 DEPs were detected in RNA-seq and proteomics datasets simultaneously. In addition, real-time RT-PCR experiments were performed to check the differential expression of the 24 genes, and the results were consistent with the RNA-seq data. According to gene ontology (GO) analysis, we found that a big part of these differentially expressed genes were related to the process of stress or immunity response. Several putative determinants and candidate effectors responsive to <i>Agrobacterium</i> mediated transformation of wheat cells were discussed. We speculate that some of these genes are possibly related to <i>Agrobacterium</i> infection. Our results will help to understand the interaction between <i>Agrobacterium</i> and host cells, and may facilitate developing efficient transformation strategies in cereal crops.</p>