Proteomic investigation of aphid honeydew reveals an unexpected diversity of proteins

PLoS One. 2013 Sep 25;8(9):e74656. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0074656. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

Aphids feed on the phloem sap of plants, and are the most common honeydew-producing insects. While aphid honeydew is primarily considered to comprise sugars and amino acids, its protein diversity has yet to be documented. Here, we report on the investigation of the honeydew proteome from the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum. Using a two-Dimensional Differential in-Gel Electrophoresis (2D-Dige) approach, more than 140 spots were isolated, demonstrating that aphid honeydew also represents a diverse source of proteins. About 66% of the isolated spots were identified through mass spectrometry analysis, revealing that the protein diversity of aphid honeydew originates from several organisms (i.e. the host aphid and its microbiota, including endosymbiotic bacteria and gut flora). Interestingly, our experiments also allowed to identify some proteins like chaperonin, GroEL and Dnak chaperones, elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu), and flagellin that might act as mediators in the plant-aphid interaction. In addition to providing the first aphid honeydew proteome analysis, we propose to reconsider the importance of this substance, mainly acknowledged to be a waste product, from the aphid ecology perspective.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Aphids / metabolism*
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism
  • Databases, Protein
  • Insect Proteins / metabolism*
  • Proteomics / methods*
  • Two-Dimensional Difference Gel Electrophoresis

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Insect Proteins

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Walloon Region Ministry Grant (WALEO2: SOLAPHIDRW/FUSAGX 061/6287). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or manuscript preparation.