Integrated omics study of lipid droplets from Plasmodiophora brassicae

Plasmodiophora brassicae causes clubroot disease in cruciferous. In this report, lipid droplets were observed in the resting spores of P. brassicae. 295 lipid droplet-associated proteins were identified and categorized into nine groups. Transcriptome analysis of these proteins during three different zoosporic stages revealed differences in gene expression pattern. GO enrichment analysis revealed that these proteins associated with lipid droplets were mainly linked to biosynthesis and metabolism. GC-MS analysis revealed that lipid droplets contain seven types of free fatty acids: saturated fatty acids C16:0 and C18:0, and unsaturated fatty acids C18:1Δ9, C18:1Δ11, C18:2, C20:4 and C20:5. P. brassicae accumulated a large amount of triacylglycerols (TAGs). We systematically analyzed the putative proteins involved in TAG biosynthesis and its metabolic pathway. KEGG pathway analysis defined 3390 genes, including 167 genes involved in lipid metabolism. Transcriptome analysis revealed that 162 candidate enzymes involved in lipid metabolism were differential expressed. Our omics studies are the first to investigate the lipid droplet organelles in P. brassicae, providing a reference resource to study protist lipid droplets.