A Genome-Wide View of Transcriptional Responses during Aphis glycines Infestation in Soybean.

Luming Yao,Shuangshuang Wang,Biyun Yang,Xiaohong Ma,Yina Jiang,Biao Wang,Zhe Guan

doi:10.3390/ijms21155191

Abstract

Soybean aphid (Aphis glycines Matsumura) is one of the major limiting factors in soybean production. The mechanism of aphid resistance in soybean remains enigmatic as little information is available about the different mechanisms of antibiosis and antixenosis. Here, we used genome-wide gene expression profiling of aphid susceptible, antibiotic, and antixenotic genotypes to investigate the underlying aphid–plant interaction mechanisms. The high expression correlation between infested and non-infested genotypes indicated that the response to aphid was controlled by a small subset of genes. Plant response to aphid infestation was faster in antibiotic genotype and the interaction in antixenotic genotype was moderation. The expression patterns of transcription factor genes in susceptible and antixenotic genotypes clustered together and were distant from those of antibiotic genotypes. Among them APETALA 2/ethylene response factors (AP2/ERF), v-myb avian myeloblastosis viral oncogene homolog (MYB), and the transcription factor contained conserved WRKYGQK domain (WRKY) were proposed to play dominant roles. The jasmonic acid-responsive pathway was dominant in aphid–soybean interaction, and salicylic acid pathway played an important role in antibiotic genotype. Callose deposition was more rapid and efficient in antibiotic genotype, while reactive oxygen species were not involved in the response to aphid attack in resistant genotypes. Our study helps to uncover important genes associated with aphid-attack response in soybean genotypes expressing antibiosis and antixenosis.

Highlights

Soybean aphid, Aphis glycine (Matsumura), is an asexually-reproducing soybean pest native to eastern Asia, and, after its accidental introduction in 2000, soybean aphid became invasive throughout Midwestern U.S and southern Canada because of the rapid population expansion, high mobility and few limits to migration [1]
The enrichment of gene ontology (GO) terms related to transcription regulator observed in the present study indicates that transcription factors (TFs) play important roles in plant’s response to aphid infestation
We demonstrated that TF genes in APETALA 2/ethylene response factors (AP2/ERF), WRKYGQK domain (WRKY), and myeloblastosis viral oncogene homolog (MYB) families were dramatically regulated in all genotypes under aphid attack (Figure 4)

Summary

Introduction

Aphis glycine (Matsumura), is an asexually-reproducing soybean pest native to eastern Asia, and, after its accidental introduction in 2000, soybean aphid became invasive throughout Midwestern U.S and southern Canada because of the rapid population expansion, high mobility and few limits to migration [1]. An alternative strategy for aphid control is to utilize the existing host-plant resistance in soybean germplasm. Plant defenses against aphids can be categorized as antibiosis, antixenosis, and tolerance. Antibiotic mechanisms influence aphid physiology, such as development time, survival, and fecundity by toxic secondary metabolites, protease inhibitors, and antibiotic effects; antixenotic factors affect aphid behavior, such as plant choice and feeding behavior by volatiles and physical barrier of plant; and plant tolerance allows the plants to harbor a large number of aphids without a significant loss in yield [5,6]. Antixenosis, and tolerance have already been identified [7,8,9,10,11,12,13]. The mechanics contributing to the resistance in legumes include structural defenses, secondary metabolites, and signaling components [6], but the underlying genetic basis of the aphid–plant interaction is still not well understood [17,18,19]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion