In this experiment we measured the transcriptional response of tomato plants (cv “Money maker”) when attacked belowground by the nematode M. inognita and, subsequently, aboveground by different (and common for this crop) biotic agents. Three weeks-old plants were exposed to nematodes for 5 days. At the fifth day the terminal leaflet of one of the first two true leaves was infected with the Cauliflower Mosaic Virus, or with the pathogen, or with the potato aphid Macrosiphum euphorbiae, or with the CMV-infected M. euphorbiae. For each belowground/aboveground combination treatment a set of control plants that received only the aboveground treatment was prepared. The infected leaflets of 5 biological replicates, each consisting of 1 plant, were collected 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 days after the onset of the aboveground treatment and flash frozen in liquid nitrogen. A different set of plants was used for every time point. Corresponding leaves from plants that did not receive any aboveground treatment (control) were selected and sampled as described above. Three biological replicates were selected among the five for RNA isolation. Total RNA was sent for sequencing to BGI Hong Kong.
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