Effects of Secondary Metabolites of Rice on Brown Planthopper and Its Symbionts

Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Dec 27;25(1):386. doi: 10.3390/ijms25010386.

Abstract

The brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) (BPH) is a main rice pest in China and many other Asian countries. In the control of BPH, the application of insect-resistant rice has proven to be quite effective. Secondary metabolites are essential weapons in plants' defense against phytophagous insects. Studies have found that differences in the content of secondary metabolites play a crucial role in determining whether rice exhibits resistance or susceptibility to BPH. Simultaneously, symbionts are essential to the BPH. Nevertheless, there is limited research on the impact of secondary metabolites on the symbionts within BPH. Therefore, investigating the influence of secondary metabolites on both BPH and their symbionts is significant for the control of BPH. In this experiment, newly emerged female adults of BPH were fed artificial diets containing 10 different secondary metabolites. The results indicated that methyl jasmonate had inhibitory effects on the survival rate, weight gain, and reproductive capacity of BPH. Using qPCR methods, it was discovered that the number of symbiotic fungi (Ascomycetes symbionts) within BPH significantly decreased under methyl jasmonate stress. In conclusion, this experiment has preliminarily revealed the inhibitory effects of methyl jasmonate on BPH and its symbionts, demonstrating its potential for controlling BPH.

Keywords: brown planthopper; methyl jasmonate; secondary metabolites; symbionts.

MeSH terms

  • Acetates*
  • Animals
  • China
  • Cyclopentanes
  • Insecta* / microbiology
  • Oryza* / chemistry
  • Oxylipins

Substances

  • Acetates
  • Cyclopentanes
  • methyl jasmonate
  • Oxylipins

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Regional In-novation and Development Joint Fund Key Support Project (U21A20223), the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 32372526, the “Pioneer” and “Leading Goose” R&D Program of Zhejiang (2022C02047, 2023C02018), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Provincial Universities of Zhejiang under Grant No. 2023YW20.