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Abstract
The white-backed planthopper (WBPH) is a serious pest of rice crop and causes sever yield loss each year, especially in Asian countries. In this study, we used chorismate mutase (CM) transgenic line to examine the defense mechanism of rice plants against WBPH. The survival rate of WBPHs, infestation rate of plants, lignin biosynthesis, transcriptional regulation of related genes, salicylic acid (SA) accumulation and signaling and antioxidants regulation were investigated. The WBPH population decreased by 67% in OxCM-t, and the plant infestation rate was 3.5-fold higher in wild-type plants compared with transgenic plants. A substantial increase in lignin was found in the transgenic line (742%) and wild-type (417%) plants. Additionally, CM, phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), chalcone synthase (CHS), and chalcone isomerase (CHI) showed significant increases in their relative expression level in the transgenic line. Salicylic acid was significantly enhanced in the transgenic line compared with WBPH infestation. SA can activate pathogenesis related proteins-1 (PR1), PR2, antioxidants, and the expression of their related genes: superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT). WBPH infestation reduced the chlorophyll contents of both transgenic and wild-type plants, but the reduction was great in wild-type than transgenic plants. The sugar content was only significantly increased in the transgenic line, indicating that sugars are not heavily involved in WBPH stress. Phenylalanine, proline, aspartic acid, and total amino acids were increased in the transgenic line and reduced in the wild-type plants. Taken together, all the results suggest that overexpression of CM gene regulates the defense mechanisms and enhances the rice toward WBPH stress.
Highlights
Rice is an essential staple food, and its production is constrained due to various environmental factors
We evaluated the survival rate of white-backed planthopper (WBPH) in Wt-t and OxCM-t plants and found that the WBPH survival rate was reduced by 15% after 5 d, 51% after 10 d, and 67% after 15 d of infestation in OxCM-t plants compared with Wt-t plants (Figure 1B)
Throughout our experiment, we noticed that both male and female WBPHs mostly fed on the lower stem, and newly hatched instar were observed on the lower stem (Figure 1C–E)
Summary
Rice is an essential staple food, and its production is constrained due to various environmental factors. The white-backed planthopper (WBPH), Sogatella furcifera (Horvath), is one of the most prominent causes of declining rice yields. It causes direct damage by sucking phloem sap and reduces phloem nutrients, which results in stunting, a decreased leaf area, chlorophyll contents, and photosynthetic rate, fewer tillers, loss of grain weight, and sometimes severe damage causing plant wilt and death [1]. Nymph and adult WBPHs inject toxic saliva into the phloem causing hopper burn, which spreads throughout the plant, and in severe cases, plants die in substantial numbers, reducing yields substantially [2]. The response of plants to herbivores is associated with the mode of feeding and the area of infestation at the damaged site.
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