Physiological response of sunflowers to broomrape parasitism and analysis of the key metabolic pathways

[Objective] To study the physiological response of sunflowers to broomrape parasitism and the related metabolic pathways, as well as understanding the molecular mechanism of sunflower resistance to broomrape parasitism. [Methods] The broomrape-resisant (s41) and -sensitive (s26) sunflowers were used as the testing materials. Transcriptome analysis of 4 samples under the condition of parasitic stress was carried out, and physiological verification analysis of key metabolites was carried out. [Results] (1) Under inoculation, the plant height and root number of susceptible materials were affected significantly, and some of them were even unearthed, while the resistant materials had no obvious changes, and only a few were parasitized. (2) The number of DEGs was 6 362, 6 609, 5 490 and 5 469 by screening the differential genes among the samples. GO analysis showed that the four comparison groups, namely s26-s41, s26CK-s41CK, s26-s26CK, and s41-s41CK, had the most differential genes in biological processes, followe