Mining And Application Of Plant Pathology Data Using Modern Information Technology

Rapid development and combination of modern information technology and high-throughput sequencing techniques changed and are changing the view of understanding biological questions and provided useful tools for biological research. In this study, we briefly summarized the advance in modern information technology used in biological data management and integration. Biological information management requires the use of metadata and gene ontology (GO) annotation to link biological data, facilitating human and computer retrieval and analysis from the whole genome information to discover new knowledge. Because the GO annotation is not applied to the scientific publishing yet, text mining tools have been developed to discover new knowledge from the rapid growth of the scientific literature. Some advanced tools integrated with GO annotation and text mining have been delivered to provides a new method for biological research. We predicted type II secretion proteins and their function in watermelon fruit blotch disease caused by Acidovorax citrulli (Ac) using integrated bioinformatics’tools. Moreover, the patents about biological control of gray mold disease caused by Botrytis cinerea were also analyzed.Bacterial fruit blotch (BFB) is a severe seed-borne disease on melons. The type II secretion system (T2SS), one of bacterial virulence factors, may contribute to bacterial colonization and transmission. In this study, genes encoding T2SS and the genetic organization of the T2SS clusters in Ac strain AAC00-1were compared with those in other plant pathogenic bacterial species in the KEGG and STRING databases. In addition, T2SS secretory proteins in Ac strain AAC00-1with homology to experimentally proofed T2SS secretory proteins in other phytopathogenic bacteria were identified based on BLASTP search. The secretion signals, possibly involved metabolism pathways, presumed protein-protein interaction, subcellular location in plant cells of T2SS secretory proteins in Ac strain AAC00-1were analyzed. These results provide valuable information for further investigation of the underlying molecular mechanisms in seed colonization and seed-to-seedling transmission of Ac.B. cinerea attacks a wide variety of plants. It is easily induced to produce resistance to various fungicides. Biocontrol of gray mold becomes a focus so far. In this paper, we analyzed patents for biocontrol of gray mold disease in DII patent database. The results indicated that biocontrol agents against gray mold included plants, fungi, actinomycetes, bacteria, insects and many polymers. Compositions of biological control ingredients include single microorganism strain, combination of several microorganisms, anti-fungal substance from plant or microbe extracts, mixture of microbe and chemical inhibitors. Besides the biocontrol efficacy against gray mold, many biocontrol agents have potential to control many other plant diseases, pests and weeds by improving plant resistance and promoting plant growth. The patents can be applied to direct studies on biocontrol of gray mould on vegetables, fruits, field crops and postharvest plant produces. Patent analysis could provide supporting imformation for the resseach on biocontrol of gray mold disease, the protection of intellectual property and avoiding patent infringement dispute.