Abstract
Both commercial and experimental genotypes of kiwifruit (Actinidia spp.) exhibit large differences in response to insect pests. An understanding of the vine's physiological response to insect feeding and its genetic basis will be important in assisting the development of varieties with acceptable levels of pest resistance. This experiment describes transcriptome changes observed in the bark of kiwifruit 2 and 7 days after the commencement of feeding by the armored scale insect pest, Hemiberlesia lataniae. Using a cDNA microarray consisting of 17,512 unigenes, we measured transcriptome changes and analyzed these into functional ontology categories using MapMan. Results are available in the GEO database GSE73922 and are described fully in Ref. Hill et al. (2015) [1]. After 7 days, transcripts associated with photosynthesis were down-regulated and secondary metabolism was up-regulated. Differential expression of transcripts associated with stress response was consistent with a defense response involving both effector and herbivore-triggered immunities, with predominant involvement of the salicylic acid phytohormonal pathway. This hypothesis was supported by the results of two laboratory experiments. The methods described here could be further adapted and applied to the study of plant responses to a wide range of sessile sucking pests.
Highlights
Plant materialEighteen 2-year-old clonal Actinidia chinensis ‘Hort16A’ scions were grafted onto 2-year-old clonal A. polygama ‘Kaimai’ rootstocks in December 2005 at the Plant & Food Research, Te Puke Research Orchard, Te Puke, New Zealand
Both commercial and experimental genotypes of kiwifruit (Actinidia spp.) exhibit large differences in response to insect pests
One hundred stress-related transcripts were identified [13], providing useful initial insights into the plant's response to H. lataniae attack. The results of this microarray experiment have identified that, in response to attack by H. lataniae, the bark of the kiwifruit plant downregulated genes involved in photosynthesis and up-regulated genes involved in secondary metabolism, including the production of a range of defense-related compounds, in particular those associated with the phenylpropanoid pathway
Summary
Eighteen 2-year-old clonal Actinidia chinensis ‘Hort16A’ scions were grafted onto 2-year-old clonal A. polygama ‘Kaimai’ rootstocks in December 2005 at the Plant & Food Research, Te Puke Research Orchard, Te Puke, New Zealand. Vines were uprooted in July 2007, potted in 30-liter planter bags, pruned and held in a shade house (50% shade) under ambient conditions for 15 months prior to the experiment. New cane development (bud break) began in the third week of August 2008. The canes were 9 weeks old (last week of October 2008) at the commencement of the experiment
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