Chickpea genes regulated by salicylic acid, methyl jasmonate, and aminocyclopropane carboxylic acid

Using microarray technology and a set of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) unigenes and grasspea (Lathyrus sativus L.) ESTs, chickpea responses to treatments with the defence signalling compounds salicylic acid (SA), methyl jasmonate (MeJA), and aminocyclopropane carboxylic acid (ACC) were studied in four chickpea genotypes with ranging levels of resistance to ascochyta blight (Ascochyta rabiei (Pass.) L.). The experimental system minimized environmental effects and was conducted in reference design, where samples from untreated controls acted as references against post-treatment samples. Robust data quality was achieved through the use of three biological replicates (including a dye-swap), the inclusion of negative controls, and strict selection criteria for differentially expressed genes including a fold change cut-off determined by self-to-self hybridizations, Students t test and multiple testing correction (P