Comparative transcriptomics of Diuraphis noxia and Schizaphis graminum fed wheat plants containing different aphid-resistance genes

PLoS One. 2020 May 22;15(5):e0233077. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0233077. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

The molecular bases of aphid virulence to aphid crop plant resistance genes are poorly understood. The Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia, (Kurdjumov), and the greenbug, Schizaphis graminum (Rondani), are global pest of cereal crops. Each species damages barley, oat, rye and wheat, but S. graminum includes fescue, maize, rice and sorghum in its host range. This study was conducted to compare and contrast the transcriptomes of S. graminum biotype I and D. noxia biotype 1 when each ingested phloem from leaves of varieties of bread wheat, Triticum aestivum L., containing no aphid resistance (Dn0), resistance to D. noxia biotype 1 (Dn4), or resistance to both D. noxia biotype 1 and S. graminum biotype I (Dn7, wheat genotype 94M370). Gene ontology enrichments, k-means analysis and KEGG pathway analysis indicated that 94M370 plants containing the Dn7 D. noxia resistance gene from rye had stronger effects on the global transcriptional profiles of S. graminum and D. noxia relative to those fed Dn4 plants. S. graminum responds to ingestion of phloem sap from 94M370 plants by expression of unigenes coding for proteins involved in DNA and RNA repair, and delayed tissue and structural development. In contrast, D. noxia displays a completely different transcriptome after ingesting phloem sap from Dn4 or 94M370 plants, consisting of unigenes involved primarily in detoxification, nutrient acquisition and structural development. These variations in transcriptional responses of D. noxia and S. graminum suggest that the underlying evolutionary mechanism(s) of virulence in these aphids are likely species specific, even in cases of cross resistance.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animal Feed
  • Animals
  • Aphids / classification
  • Aphids / genetics
  • Aphids / physiology*
  • Disease Resistance*
  • Gene Expression Profiling / methods*
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Gene Ontology
  • Herbivory
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
  • Hordeum / genetics*
  • Insect Proteins / genetics*
  • Plant Leaves / genetics
  • Plant Proteins / genetics
  • Sequence Analysis, RNA
  • Species Specificity

Substances

  • Insect Proteins
  • Plant Proteins

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Kansas Wheat Alliance and the Kansas State Agricultural Experiment Station and awarded to CMS. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.