Abstract
BackgroundWhile much recent research has expanded our understanding of the molecular interactions between aphids and their host plants, it is lacking for the soybean aphid, Aphis glycines. Since its North American invasion, A. glycines has become one of the most damaging insect pests on this important crop. Five soybean genes for host plant resistance to A. glycines have been identified, but populations of A. glycines have already adapted to overcome these resistance genes. Understanding the molecular interactions between resistant soybean and A. glycines can provide clues to its adaptation mechanisms. Here, we used RNA-Sequencing to compare and contrast A. glycines gene expression when fed resistant (Rag1) and susceptible soybean.ResultsCombining results from a previous A. glycines transcriptome, we generated 64,860 high quality transcripts, totaling 41,151,086 bases. Statistical analysis revealed 914 genes with significant differential expression. Most genes with higher expression in A. glycines on resistant plants (N = 352) were related to stress and detoxification such as cytochrome P450s, glutathione-S-transferases, carboxyesterases, and ABC transporters. A total of 562 genes showed lower transcript abundance in A. glycines on resistant plants. From our extensive transcriptome data, we also identified genes encoding for putative salivary effector proteins (N = 73). Among these, 6 effector genes have lower transcript abundance in A. glycines feeding on resistant soybean.ConclusionsOverall, A. glycines exhibited a pattern typical of xenobiotic challenge, thereby validating antibiosis in Rag1, presumably mediated through toxic secondary metabolites. Additionally, this study identified many A. glycines genes and gene families at the forefront of its molecular interaction with soybean. Further investigation of these genes in other biotypes may reveal adaptation mechanisms to resistant plants.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-972) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
While much recent research has expanded our understanding of the molecular interactions between aphids and their host plants, it is lacking for the soybean aphid, Aphis glycines
Induced plant defenses usually involve the production of plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) that are toxic to insects
Suppression of putative salivary effector gene expression As effectors play a central role in the molecular interaction between aphids and their host plants [14], we focused on genes that could encode for salivary effector proteins
Summary
While much recent research has expanded our understanding of the molecular interactions between aphids and their host plants, it is lacking for the soybean aphid, Aphis glycines. Understanding the molecular interactions between resistant soybean and A. glycines can provide clues to its adaptation mechanisms. Sometimes referred to as a classic evolutionary arms race, these naturally evolved systems are often exploited in crop plants that offer resistance to insect pests as a way to prevent damage and protect yield, i.e. host plant resistance (HPR) [2]. Most insects respond to PSMs by inducing an array of stress response proteins including enzymes for metabolic excretion [5]. The metabolic excretion of PSMs and other xenobiotics by insects tends to occur in three phases [5,6,7]. In phase III, conjugated compounds are exported out of the cell by employing ATP-binding cassette (ABC) and other transmembrane transporters [6]
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