Fig. 6.

Kauralexin species accumulation in RIL165 and RIL387. a An abundance of kauralexin A compounds were measured in RIL165 leaf material as opposed to RIL387, where leaves contained majority kauralexin B compounds. Average levels (n = 3–5; ±SEM) of total kauralexin A and B metabolites in RIL165 and RIL387 depicted on the y-axis. Leaves were treated with a spore solution (3 × 10⁵ conidia/ml) and harvested at 0 days post inoculation (dpi), 14dpi and 24 or 28dpi (RIL165 and RIL387 respectively). b Distinct accumulation of kauralexin A3 and B3 compounds in RIL165 and RIL387, respectively. In RIL165, kauralexin A3 comprised 92% and 85% of the total kauralexin diterpenoids at 14dpi and 24dpi respectively, whereas in RIL387 70% of the total kauralexin diterpenoids consisted of kauralexin B3 at both 14dpi and 28dpi. c Average (n = 3–5; ±SEM) RT-qPCR relative transcript levels of genes encoding ZmAn2, ZmKSL2 and ZmCPS3. Relative expression analysis was performed in qBase + v2.6 (BioGazelle, Zwijnaarde, Belgium), normalised against four reference genes. Lower case letter (a–b) and asterisks represent significant differences in expression levels between RIL165 and RIL387. All ANOVAs; **** P < 0.0001; ** P < 0.005; *P < 0.01. Tukey test corrections for multiple comparisons, P < 0.05