Beauveria bassiana (Bb) is an entomopathogenic fungus with a wide host range, and is commonly used as an environment-friendly biopesticide. However, the molecular mechanisms of Bb-host interactions are not well understood. Here, RNA isolated from a highly virulent strain of B. bassiana (Bb JEF-007) and Riptortus pedestris (Hemiptera: Alydidae) (bean bug) infected with this strain were subjected to high throughput next generation sequencing (NGS) to analyze and compare transcriptomes. Differentially expressed gene (DEG) analysis showed that 2,381 genes were up-regulated and 2,303 genes were down-regulated upon infection. Most DEGs were classified into the categories of single-organism, cellular and metabolism processes by gene ontology (GO) analysis. Carbon metabolism-related enzymes in the glyoxylate cycle were significantly up-regulated, suggesting a possible role for them in Bb growth in the host. This work provides insight into how entomopathogenic B. bassiana occupies agriculturally harmful bean bug at the late stage, which might be essential during fungal infection.

• Se Jin Lee(Department of Agricultural Biology, Chonbuk National University)
• Yi-Ting Yang(Department of Agricultural Biology, Chonbuk National University)
• Yu-Shin Nai(Department of Biotechnology and Animal Science, National Ilan University)
• Jae Su Kim(Department of Biotechnology and Animal Science, National Ilan University)