Failure of methanol detoxification in pests confers broad spectrum insect resistance in PME overexpressing transgenic cotton

Abstract

Methanol is noxious to insect pests, but most plants do not make enough of it to shield themselves from encroaching insects. Methanol emission is known to increase in the instance of herbivory. In the current study, we showed that Aspergillus niger pectin methylesterase over-expression increases methanol emission and confers resistance to polyphagous insect pests on transgenic cotton plants by impeding the possible methanol detoxification pathways. Transgenic plants emitted ∼11 fold higher methanol displaying insect mortality of 96% and 93% in Helicoverpa armigera and Spodoptera litura, respectively. The larvae were unable to survive and finish their life cycle and the surviving larvae exhibited severe growth retardation. Insects try to detoxify methanol via catalase, carboxylesterase and cytochrome P450 monooxygenase enzymes, amongst which cytochrome P450 plays a major role in oxidizing methanol to formaldehyde and formaldehyde to formic acid, which is broken down into carbon dioxide and water. In our study, catalase and esterase enzymes were found to be upregulated, but cytochrome P450 monooxygenase levels were not much affected. Leaf disc assays and In-planta bioassays also showed 50–60% population reduction in the sap sucking pests, such as Bemisia tabaci and Phenacoccus solenopsis. These findings imply that elevated methanol emissions confer resistance in plants against chewing and sap-sucking pests by tampering the methanol detoxification pathways. Such mechanism will be useful in imparting expansive resistance against pests in plants.