Rice phenolamindes reduce the survival of female adults of the white-backed planthopper Sogatella furcifera

Wanwan Wang,Jun Wu,Ting Luo,Jinpeng Meng,Jin Zhang,Pengyong Zhou,Yonggen Lou,Zhuoxian Yu

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-62752-y

Abstract

In response to infestation by herbivores, rice plants rapidly biosynthesize defense compounds by activating a series of defense-related pathways. However, which defensive compounds in rice are effective against herbivores remains largely unknown. We found that the infestation of white-backed planthopper (WBPH) Sogatella furcifera gravid females significantly increased levels of jasmonic acid (JA), jasmonoyl-isoleucine (JA-Ile) and H2O2, and reduced the level of ethylene in rice; levels of 11 of the tested 12 phenolamides (PAs) were subsequently enhanced. In contrast, WBPH nymph infestation had no effect on levels of JA, JA-Ile, ethylene and H2O2 in rice, and enhanced levels of only 2 of 12 PAs. Moreover, infestation by brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens gravid females also affected the production of these PAs differently. Bioassays revealed that 4 PAs – N-feruloylputrescine, N-feruloyltyramine, feruloylagmatine and N1,N10-diferuloylspermidine – were toxic to newly emerged WBPH female adults. Our results suggest that WBPH- or BPH-induced biosynthesis of PAs in rice seems to be shaped primarily by the specific profile of defense-related signals elicited by the herbivore and that PAs play a role in conferring the resistance to WBPH on rice.

Highlights

When attacked by herbivores, plants recognize herbivore-associated molecular patterns and danger-associated molecular patterns and activate multiple signaling pathways mainly mediated by mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades, jasmonic acid (JA), jasmonoyl-isoleucine (JA-Ile), salicylic acid (SA) and ethylene[1,2,3]
We found that white-backed planthopper (WBPH) nymph infestation did not change levels of JA and JA-Ile in rice plants compared to in non-infested rice plants (Fig. 1)
WBPH gravid female infestation elicited the production of JA, JA-Ile and H2O2 in rice, whereas WBPH nymph infestation had no influence on the biosynthesis of these two signals

Summary

Introduction

Plants recognize herbivore-associated molecular patterns and danger-associated molecular patterns and activate multiple signaling pathways mainly mediated by mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades, jasmonic acid (JA), jasmonoyl-isoleucine (JA-Ile), salicylic acid (SA) and ethylene[1,2,3]. Infestation of rice by insect herbivores, including white-backed planthopper (WBPH) Sogatella furcifera and BPH, changes levels of a variety of defense-related phytohormones, including JA, JA-Ile, SA and ethylene[17,18,19]. Changes in these compounds, in turn, cause rice plants to produce defense responses, such as the increased activity of trypsin protease inhibitors, the production of PAs and the release of volatiles; these responses enhance the direct and/or indirect resistance of rice to herbivores[18,19,20]. The results demonstrate that (1) the influence of herbivore infestation on the biosynthesis of PAs in rice is probably related to the profile of signaling pathways that the herbivore elicited and (2) PAs confer the resistance to WBPH on rice

Methods

Results

Conclusion