Abstract
BackgroundCommon cutworm (CCW) is highly responsible for destabilizing soybean productivity. Wild soybean is a resource used by breeders to discover elite defensive genes.ResultsThe transcriptomes of two wild accessions (W11 and W99) with different resistance to CCW were analyzed at early- and late-induction time points. After induction, the susceptible accession W11 differentially expressed 1268 and 508 genes at the early and late time points, respectively. Compared with W11, the resistant accession W99 differentially expressed 1270 genes at the early time point and many more genes (2308) at the late time point. In total, 3836 non-redundant genes were identified in both lines. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses revealed that the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in W99 at the late time point were mostly associated with specific processes and pathways. Among the non-redundant genes, 146 genes were commonly up-regulated in the treatment condition compared with the control condition at the early- and late-induction time points in both accessions used in this experiment. Approximately 40% of the common DEGs were related to secondary metabolism, disease resistance, and signal transduction based on their putative function. Excluding the common DEGs, W99 expressed more unique DEGs than W11. Further analysis of the 3836 DEGs revealed that the induction of CCW not only up-regulated defense-related genes, including 37 jasmonic acid (JA)-related genes, 171 plant-pathogen-related genes, and 17 genes encoding protease inhibitors, but also down-regulated growth-related genes, including 35 photosynthesis-related genes, 48 nutrition metabolism genes, and 28 auxin metabolism genes. Therefore, representative defense-related and growth-related genes were chosen for binding site prediction via co-expression of transcription factors (TFs) and spatial expression pattern analyses. In total, 53 binding sites of 28 TFs were identified based on 3 defense-related genes and 3 growth-related genes. Phosphate transporter PT1, which is a representative growth-related gene, was transformed into soybean, and the transgenic soybean plants were susceptible to CCW.ConclusionsIn summary, we described transcriptome reprograming after herbivore induction in wild soybean, identified the susceptibility of growth-related genes, and provided new resources for the breeding of herbivore-resistant cultivated soybeans.
Highlights
Common cutworm (CCW) is highly responsible for destabilizing soybean productivity
The ANOVA indicated that the resistance to CCW among the 121 accessions was significant (P < 0.001) in both years
W99 was resistant to CCW, and the average weight of a single larva feeding on W99 was 0.06 g
Summary
Common cutworm (CCW) is highly responsible for destabilizing soybean productivity. Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] crops have substantial economic value and account for more than half of global oilseed production [1]. Throughout their whole growth period, soybean plants are affected by many insects and diseases. The common cutworm (CCW), which belongs to the order Lepidopterans, is one of the major leaf-feeding insects in southern soybean regions in China [2]. CCWs voraciously feed on many plants and can even cause 100% loss of soybean production if no control measures are taken [3]. The genetic improvement of soybean resistance to insects is an alternative for controlling insect damage
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