Comparative transcriptome analysis between resistant and susceptible tomato allows the identification of lnc RNA 16397 conferring resistance to Phytophthora infestans by co‐expressing glutaredoxin

Summary The rapid development of omics sequencing technology has facilitated the identification of thousands of long non‐coding (lnc) RNA s in plant species, but the role of lnc RNA s in plant–pathogen interactions remains largely unexplored. We used comparative transcriptome analysis of Phytophthora infestans ‐resistant and ‐susceptible tomatoes to identify differentially expressed genes ( DEG s) and lnc RNA s ( DEL s), and examine lnc RNA ‐ mRNA networks. A total of 1037 DEG s and 688 DEL s were identified between P. infestans‐ resistant and ‐susceptible tomatoes. The co‐localization networks, including 128 DEG s and 127 DEL s, were performed. We found that lnc RNA 16397 acted as an antisense transcript of Sl GRX 22 to regulate its expression, and also induced Sl GRX 21 expression when lnc RNA 16397 was overexpressed. In addition, disease symptoms and reactive oxygen species ( ROS ) accumulation in tomatoes overexpressing lnc RNA 16397 and Sp GRX were fewer and lower than those in wild‐type after P. infestans infection. This result suggests that tomato lnc RNA 16397 induces Sl GRX expression to reduce ROS accumulation and alleviate cell membrane injury, resulting in enhanced resistance to P. infestans . Our results provide insight into lnc RNA s involved in the response of tomato to P. infestans infection, demonstrate that the lnc RNA 16397‐ GRX s network is an important component of the P. infestans network in tomato, and provide candidates for breeding to enhance biotic stress‐resistance in tomato.