eCALIBRATOR: A Comparative Tool to Identify Key Genes and Pathways for Defense Against Biotic Stressors.

Many pests and pathogens threaten Eucalyptus plantations. The study of defense responses in this economically important wood and fiber crop enables the discovery of novel pathways and genes, which may be adopted to improve resistance. Various functional genomics experiments have been conducted in Eucalyptus-biotic stress interactions following the availability of the genome, however, comparisons between these studies were limited largely due to a lack of comparative tools.

Dual RNA-Sequencing to Elucidate the Plant-Pathogen Duel.

RNA-sequencing technology has been widely adopted to investigate host responses during infection with pathogens. Dual RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) allows the simultaneous capture of pathogen specific transcripts during infection, providing a more complete view of the interaction. In this review, we focus on the design of dual RNA-seq experiments and the application of downstream data analysis to gain biological insight into both sides of the interaction.