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Kumari M, Yagnik KN, Gupta V, Singh IK, Gupta R, Verma PK, Singh A. Metabolomics-driven investigation of plant defense response against pest and pathogen attack. PHYSIOLOGIA PLANTARUM 2024; 176:e14270. [PMID: 38566280 DOI: 10.1111/ppl.14270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2023] [Revised: 02/27/2024] [Accepted: 02/29/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
The advancement of metabolomics has assisted in the identification of various bewildering characteristics of the biological system. Metabolomics is a standard approach, facilitating crucial aspects of system biology with absolute quantification of metabolites using minimum samples, based on liquid/gas chromatography, mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance. The metabolome profiling has narrowed the wide gaps of missing information and has enhanced the understanding of a wide spectrum of plant-environment interactions by highlighting the complex pathways regulating biochemical reactions and cellular physiology under a particular set of conditions. This high throughput technique also plays a prominent role in combined analyses of plant metabolomics and other omics datasets. Plant metabolomics has opened a wide paradigm of opportunities for developing stress-tolerant plants, ensuring better food quality and quantity. However, despite advantageous methods and databases, the technique has a few limitations, such as ineffective 3D capturing of metabolites, low comprehensiveness, and lack of cell-based sampling. In the future, an expansion of plant-pathogen and plant-pest response towards the metabolite architecture is necessary to understand the intricacies of plant defence against invaders, elucidation of metabolic pathway operational during defence and developing a direct correlation between metabolites and biotic stresses. Our aim is to provide an overview of metabolomics and its utilities for the identification of biomarkers or key metabolites associated with biotic stress, devising improved diagnostic methods to efficiently assess pest and pathogen attack and generating improved crop varieties with the help of combined application of analytical and molecular tools.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megha Kumari
- Department of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi, India
- Department of Botany, Hansraj College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India
| | - Kalpesh Nath Yagnik
- Department of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi, India
- Department of Botany, Hansraj College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India
| | - Vaishali Gupta
- Department of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi, India
| | - Indrakant K Singh
- Molecular Biology Research Lab, Department of Zoology, Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India
| | - Ravi Gupta
- College of General Education, Kookmin University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Praveen K Verma
- Plant-Immunity Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
| | - Archana Singh
- Department of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi, India
- Department of Botany, Hansraj College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India
- Delhi School of Climate Change and Sustainability, Institution of Eminence, Maharishi Karnad Bhawan, University of Delhi, India
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Eckert S, Eilers EJ, Jakobs R, Anaia RA, Aragam KS, Bloss T, Popp M, Sasidharan R, Schnitzler JP, Stein F, Steppuhn A, Unsicker SB, van Dam NM, Yepes S, Ziaja D, Müller C. Inter-laboratory comparison of plant volatile analyses in the light of intra-specific chemodiversity. Metabolomics 2023; 19:62. [PMID: 37351733 DOI: 10.1007/s11306-023-02026-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/24/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Assessing intraspecific variation in plant volatile organic compounds (VOCs) involves pitfalls that may bias biological interpretation, particularly when several laboratories collaborate on joint projects. Comparative, inter-laboratory ring trials can inform on the reproducibility of such analyses. OBJECTIVES In a ring trial involving five laboratories, we investigated the reproducibility of VOC collections with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and analyses by thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS). As model plant we used Tanacetum vulgare, which shows a remarkable diversity in terpenoids, forming so-called chemotypes. We performed our ring-trial with two chemotypes to examine the sources of technical variation in plant VOC measurements during pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical steps. METHODS Monoclonal root cuttings were generated in one laboratory and distributed to five laboratories, in which plants were grown under laboratory-specific conditions. VOCs were collected on PDMS tubes from all plants before and after a jasmonic acid (JA) treatment. Thereafter, each laboratory (donors) sent a subset of tubes to four of the other laboratories (recipients), which performed TD-GC-MS with their own established procedures. RESULTS Chemotype-specific differences in VOC profiles were detected but with an overall high variation both across donor and recipient laboratories. JA-induced changes in VOC profiles were not reproducible. Laboratory-specific growth conditions led to phenotypic variation that affected the resulting VOC profiles. CONCLUSION Our ring trial shows that despite large efforts to standardise each VOC measurement step, the outcomes differed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Our results reveal sources of variation in plant VOC research and may help to avoid systematic errors in similar experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Eckert
- Department of Chemical Ecology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Elisabeth J Eilers
- Department of Chemical Ecology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Ruth Jakobs
- Department of Chemical Ecology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Redouan Adam Anaia
- Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
- Molecular Interaction Ecology, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | | | - Tanja Bloss
- Department of Chemical Ecology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Moritz Popp
- Research Unit Environmental Simulation, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany
| | - Rohit Sasidharan
- Department of Chemical Ecology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | | | - Florian Stein
- Department of Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany
| | - Anke Steppuhn
- Department of Molecular Botany, Hohenheim University, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Sybille B Unsicker
- Department of Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany
| | - Nicole M van Dam
- Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
- Molecular Interaction Ecology, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
- Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops, Großbeeren, Germany
| | - Sol Yepes
- Department of Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany
| | - Dominik Ziaja
- Department of Chemical Ecology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Caroline Müller
- Department of Chemical Ecology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.
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Nawrocka J, Szymczak K, Skwarek-Fadecka M, Małolepsza U. Toward the Analysis of Volatile Organic Compounds from Tomato Plants ( Solanum lycopersicum L.) Treated with Trichoderma virens or/and Botrytis cinerea. Cells 2023; 12:cells12091271. [PMID: 37174671 PMCID: PMC10177525 DOI: 10.3390/cells12091271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2023] [Revised: 04/15/2023] [Accepted: 04/25/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea causes significant losses in tomato crops. B. cinerea infection may be halted by volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which may exhibit fungistatic activity or enhance the defense responses of plants against the pathogen. The enhanced VOC generation was observed in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), with the soil-applied biocontrol agent Trichoderma virens (106 spores/1 g soil), which decreased the gray mold disease index in plant leaves at 72 hpi with B. cinerea suspension (1 × 106 spores/mL). The tomato leaves were found to emit 100 VOCs, annotated and putatively annotated, assigned to six classes by the headspace GCxGC TOF-MS method. In Trichoderma-treated plants with a decreased grey mold disease index, the increased emission or appearance of 2-hexenal, (2E,4E)-2,4-hexadienal, 2-hexyn-1-ol, 3,6,6-trimethyl-2-cyclohexen-1-one, 1-octen-3-ol, 1,5-octadien-3-ol, 2-octenal, octanal, 2-penten-1-ol, (Z)-6-nonenal, prenol, and acetophenone, and 2-hydroxyacetophenone, β-phellandrene, β-myrcene, 2-carene, δ-elemene, and isocaryophyllene, and β-ionone, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran, and 2-ethyl-, and 2-pentylfuran, ethyl, butyl, and hexyl acetate were most noticeable. This is the first report of the VOCs that were released by tomato plants treated with Trichoderma, which may be used in practice against B. cinerea, although this requires further analysis, including the complete identification of VOCs and determination of their potential as agents that are capable of the direct and indirect control of pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justyna Nawrocka
- Department of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Banacha 12/16, 90-237 Lodz, Poland
| | - Kamil Szymczak
- Institute of Natural Products and Cosmetics, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences, Lodz University of Technology, Stefanowskiego 2/22, 90-537 Lodz, Poland
| | - Monika Skwarek-Fadecka
- Department of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Banacha 12/16, 90-237 Lodz, Poland
| | - Urszula Małolepsza
- Department of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Banacha 12/16, 90-237 Lodz, Poland
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Wei J, Yang Y, Peng Y, Wang S, Zhang J, Liu X, Liu J, Wen B, Li M. Biosynthesis and the Transcriptional Regulation of Terpenoids in Tea Plants ( Camellia sinensis). Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24086937. [PMID: 37108101 PMCID: PMC10138656 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24086937] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2023] [Revised: 03/26/2023] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Terpenes, especially volatile terpenes, are important components of tea aroma due to their unique scents. They are also widely used in the cosmetic and medical industries. In addition, terpene emission can be induced by herbivory, wounding, light, low temperature, and other stress conditions, leading to plant defense responses and plant-plant interactions. The transcriptional levels of important core genes (including HMGR, DXS, and TPS) involved in terpenoid biosynthesis are up- or downregulated by the MYB, MYC, NAC, ERF, WRKY, and bHLH transcription factors. These regulators can bind to corresponding cis-elements in the promoter regions of the corresponding genes, and some of them interact with other transcription factors to form a complex. Recently, several key terpene synthesis genes and important transcription factors involved in terpene biosynthesis have been isolated and functionally identified from tea plants. In this work, we focus on the research progress on the transcriptional regulation of terpenes in tea plants (Camellia sinensis) and thoroughly detail the biosynthesis of terpene compounds, the terpene biosynthesis-related genes, the transcription factors involved in terpene biosynthesis, and their importance. Furthermore, we review the potential strategies used in studying the specific transcriptional regulation functions of candidate transcription factors that have been discriminated to date.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junchi Wei
- College of Tea Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
| | - Yun Yang
- College of Tea Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
| | - Ye Peng
- College of Tea Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
| | - Shaoying Wang
- College of Tea Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
| | - Jing Zhang
- College of Tea Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
| | - Xiaobo Liu
- College of Tea Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
| | - Jianjun Liu
- College of Tea Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
| | - Beibei Wen
- College of Tea Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
| | - Meifeng Li
- College of Tea Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
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Clancy MV, Mamin M, Flückiger G, Quijano-Medina T, Pérez-Niño B, Abdala-Roberts L, Turlings TCJ, Bustos-Segura C. Terpene chemotypes in Gossypium hirsutum (wild cotton) from the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. PHYTOCHEMISTRY 2023; 205:113454. [PMID: 36244403 DOI: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2022.113454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2022] [Revised: 09/12/2022] [Accepted: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Cultivated plants of Gossypium hirsutum Cav. (cotton) consistently emit low levels of volatile organic compounds, primarily mono- and sesquiterpenoids, which are produced and stored in pigment glands. In this study, we provide a comprehensive evaluation of the terpene profiles of wild G. hirsutum plants sourced from sites located throughout natural distribution of this species, thus providing the first in-depth assessment of the scope of its intraspecific chemotypic diversity. Chemotypic variation can potentially influence resistance to herbivory and diseases, or interact with abiotic stress such as extreme temperatures. Under controlled environmental conditions, plants were grown from seeds of sixteen G. hirsutum populations collected along the coastline of the Yucatan Peninsula, which is its likely centre of origin. We found high levels of intraspecific diversity in the terpene profiles of the plants. Two distinct chemotypes were identified: one chemotype contained higher levels of the monoterpenes γ-terpinene, limonene, α-thujene, α-terpinene, terpinolene, and p-cymene, while the other chemotype was distinguished by higher levels of α- and β-pinene. The distribution of chemotypes followed a geographic gradient from west to east, with an increasing frequency of the former chemotype. Concurrent analysis of maternal plants revealed that chemotypes in wild G. hirsutum are highly heritable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary V Clancy
- University of Neuchâtel, Institute of Biology, Fundamental and Applied Research in Chemical Ecology, Rue Emile-Argand 11, CH-2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Marine Mamin
- University of Neuchâtel, Institute of Biology, Fundamental and Applied Research in Chemical Ecology, Rue Emile-Argand 11, CH-2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Galien Flückiger
- University of Neuchâtel, Institute of Biology, Fundamental and Applied Research in Chemical Ecology, Rue Emile-Argand 11, CH-2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Teresa Quijano-Medina
- Departamento de Ecología Tropical, Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Km. 15.5 Carretera Mérida-Xtmakuil s/n, Mérida, Yucatán, 97200, Mexico
| | - Biiniza Pérez-Niño
- Departamento de Ecología Tropical, Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Km. 15.5 Carretera Mérida-Xtmakuil s/n, Mérida, Yucatán, 97200, Mexico
| | - Luis Abdala-Roberts
- Departamento de Ecología Tropical, Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Km. 15.5 Carretera Mérida-Xtmakuil s/n, Mérida, Yucatán, 97200, Mexico
| | - Ted C J Turlings
- University of Neuchâtel, Institute of Biology, Fundamental and Applied Research in Chemical Ecology, Rue Emile-Argand 11, CH-2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
| | - Carlos Bustos-Segura
- University of Neuchâtel, Institute of Biology, Fundamental and Applied Research in Chemical Ecology, Rue Emile-Argand 11, CH-2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
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Bejerman N, Dietzgen RG, Debat H. Unlocking the Hidden Genetic Diversity of Varicosaviruses, the Neglected Plant Rhabdoviruses. Pathogens 2022; 11:1127. [PMID: 36297184 PMCID: PMC9608074 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens11101127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2022] [Revised: 09/27/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 09/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The genus Varicosavirus is one of six genera of plant-infecting rhabdoviruses. Varicosaviruses have non-enveloped, flexuous, rod-shaped virions and a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA genome. A distinguishing feature of varicosaviruses, which is shared with dichorhaviruses, is a bi-segmented genome. Before 2017, a sole varicosavirus was known and characterized, and then two more varicosaviruses were identified through high-throughput sequencing in 2017 and 2018. More recently, the number of known varicosaviruses has substantially increased in concert with the extensive use of high-throughput sequencing platforms and data mining approaches. The novel varicosaviruses have revealed not only sequence diversity, but also plasticity in terms of genome architecture, including a virus with a tentatively unsegmented genome. Here, we report the discovery of 45 novel varicosavirus genomes which were identified in publicly available metatranscriptomic data. The identification, assembly, and curation of the raw Sequence Read Archive reads has resulted in 39 viral genome sequences with full-length coding regions and 6 with nearly complete coding regions. The highlights of the obtained sequences include eight varicosaviruses with unsegmented genomes, which are linked to a phylogenetic clade associated with gymnosperms. These findings have resulted in the most complete phylogeny of varicosaviruses to date and shed new light on the phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary landscape of this group of plant rhabdoviruses. Thus, the extensive use of sequence data mining for virus discovery has allowed us to unlock of the hidden genetic diversity of varicosaviruses, the largely neglected plant rhabdoviruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Bejerman
- Instituto de Patología Vegetal, Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (IPAVE—CIAP—INTA), Camino 60 Cuadras Km 5.5, Córdoba X5020ICA, Argentina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Unidad de Fitopatología y Modelización Agrícola, Camino 60 Cuadras Km 5.5, Córdoba X5020ICA, Argentina
| | - Ralf G. Dietzgen
- Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Humberto Debat
- Instituto de Patología Vegetal, Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (IPAVE—CIAP—INTA), Camino 60 Cuadras Km 5.5, Córdoba X5020ICA, Argentina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Unidad de Fitopatología y Modelización Agrícola, Camino 60 Cuadras Km 5.5, Córdoba X5020ICA, Argentina
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Zhu C, Wang W, Chen Y, Zhao Y, Zhang S, Shi F, Khalil-Ur-Rehman M, Nieuwenhuizen NJ. Transcriptomics and Antioxidant Analysis of Two Chinese Chestnut ( Castanea mollissima BL.) Varieties Provides New Insights Into the Mechanisms of Resistance to Gall Wasp Dryocosmus kuriphilus Infestation. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 13:874434. [PMID: 35498685 PMCID: PMC9051522 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.874434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2022] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Chinese chestnut is a popular fruit tree with a high nutritional value of its nuts, which can suffer from infestation by the chestnut gall wasp Dryocosmus kuriphilus (GWDK) that results in gall formation and resultant loss of production and profitability. The physiological and molecular mechanisms of GWDK resistance found in certain genotypes currently remains elusive. To gain new insights into this phenomenon, a series of RNA-Seq integrated with metabolomic profiling experiments were executed to investigate the chemical and transcriptional differences in response to GWDK infestation in two contrasting chestnut varieties grown in China (the susceptible "HongLi," HL and the partially resistant "Shuhe_Wuyingli," SW). Three time points were selected for comparison: The initiation stage (A), growth stage (B), and maturation stage (C). Results showed that concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and the activities of peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme were elevated in the resistant SW leaves compared with those in HL leaves at all three developmental stages, while catalase (CAT) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activities were mostly higher in HL leaves. RNA-Seq transcriptomic analyses of HL and SW leaves revealed that various metabolic pathways involved in GWDK stress responses, such as plant hormone signal transduction, MAPK signaling, and the peroxisome pathway, were enriched in the contrasting samples. Moreover, the weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) of differentially expressed genes in the POD pathway combined with transcription factors (TFs) indicated that the expression of TF members of bHLH, WRKY, NAC, and MYB family positively correlated with POD pathway gene expression. The TFs CmbHLH130 (EVM0032437), CmWRKY31 (EVM0017000), CmNAC50 (EVM0000033), and CmPHL12 (EVM0007330) were identified as putative TFs that participate in the regulation of insect-induced plant enzyme activities in chestnut, which may contribute to GWDK resistance in SW. Expression levels of 8 random differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were furthermore selected to perform quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) to validate the accuracy of the RNA-Seq-derived expression patterns. This study guides the functional analyses of further candidate genes and mechanisms important for GWDK resistance in chestnuts in the future as well as can help in identifying the master transcriptional regulators and important enzyme steps that support major insect defense pathways in chestnut.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cancan Zhu
- Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Wu Wang
- Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
- *Correspondence: Wu Wang,
| | - Yu Chen
- Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Yuqiang Zhao
- Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Shijie Zhang
- Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Fenghou Shi
- College of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China
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Enders L, Begcy K. Unconventional routes to developing insect-resistant crops. MOLECULAR PLANT 2021; 14:1439-1453. [PMID: 34217871 DOI: 10.1016/j.molp.2021.06.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2021] [Revised: 05/26/2021] [Accepted: 06/29/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Concerns over widespread use of insecticides and heightened insect pest virulence under climate change continue to fuel the need for environmentally safe and sustainable control strategies. However, to develop such strategies, a better understanding of the molecular basis of plant-pest interactions is still needed. Despite decades of research investigating plant-insect interactions, few examples exist where underlying molecular mechanisms are well characterized, and even rarer are cases where this knowledge has been successfully applied to manage harmful agricultural pests. Consequently, the field appears to be static, urgently needing shifts in approaches to identify novel mechanisms by which insects colonize plants and plants avoid insect pressure. In this perspective, we outline necessary steps for advancing holistic methodologies that capture complex plant-insect molecular interactions. We highlight novel and underexploited approaches in plant-insect interaction research as essential routes to translate knowledge of underlying molecular mechanisms into durable pest control strategies, including embracing microbial partnerships, identifying what makes a plant an unsuitable host, capitalizing on tolerance of insect damage, and learning from cases where crop domestication and agronomic practices enhance pest virulence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laramy Enders
- Purdue University, Department of Entomology, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
| | - Kevin Begcy
- University of Florida, Environmental Horticulture Department, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
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