The viral infection of plants may cause various physiological symptoms associated with the reprogramming of plant gene expression. However, the molecular mechanisms and associated genes underlying disease symptom development in plants infected with viruses are largely unknown. In this study, we employed RNA sequencing for in-depth molecular characterization of the transcriptional changes associated with the development of distinct symptoms induced by tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV) and tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) in tomato. Comparative analysis of differentially expressed genes revealed that ToCV and TYLCV induced distinct transcriptional changes in tomato and resulted in the identification of important genes responsible for the development of symptoms of ToCV (i.e., chlorosis and anthocyanin accumulation) and TYLCV (i.e., yellowing, stunted growth, and leaf curl). Our comprehensive transcriptome analysis can provide molecular strategies to reduce the severity of disease symptoms as well as new insights for the development of virus-resistant crops.

植物的病毒感染可引起与植物基因表达的重编程有关的各种生理症状。但是，被病毒感染的植物中疾病症状发展的分子机制和相关基因在很大程度上是未知的。在这项研究中，我们采用RNA测序技术对与番茄萎黄病毒（ToCV）和番茄黄叶卷曲病毒（TYLCV）诱导的番茄独特症状发展相关的转录变化进行深入的分子表征。差异表达基因的比较分析表明，ToCV和TYLCV诱导了番茄中明显的转录变化，并导致鉴定了导致ToCV（即萎黄病和花青素积累）和TYLCV（即黄变，发育迟缓，叶片卷曲）。我们全面的转录组分析可以提供降低疾病症状严重程度的分子策略，以及为抗病毒作物的发展提供新见解。