Abstract
Host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) of insect growth and development is a promising measure for pest control in practice; the feasibility of disarming insect detoxification of toxic phytochemicals via HIGS of insect detoxification enzymes remains largely unexplored. In this study, a HIGS system was applied to interfere with glutathione S-transferase (GST) gene expression in brown planthopper (BPH, Nilaparvata lugens), a key insect pest in rice of Asia, and regulate rice resistance to the insect. The recombination vector in transgenic plants was expressed in almost all organs, especially in vascular bundle tissues, mesophyll, epidermal cells and leaf sheath sap, but not in xylem. Target BPH NlGST1-1 was successfully integrated into rice genome, the resultant transgenic rice lines harbored a single-copy of BPH NlGST1-1 dsRNA, and expression of NlGST1-1 dsRNA was detected in leaves and leaf sheaths of transgenic lines. However, the content of phytochemical gramine, an inherent alkaloid in gramineous plants, did not change in these transgenic plants. BPH nymphs reared on the transgenic rice expressing NlGST1-1 dsRNA displayed significant reductions in NlGST1-1 transcript expression and GST activity. The transgenic plants significantly retarded relative growth rate of the nymphs and the insect female fecundity, the plants also showed enhanced resistance when attacked by BPH. Our study demonstrated the feasibility of reinforcing gramine-mediated plant defense via HIGS of GSTs in herbivorous insects. HIGS-mediated suppression of the herbivore adaptive mechanism has significant implications for efficiently managing BPH and other pests in rice.
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The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding authors on reasonable request.
Abbreviations
- ANOVA:
-
The analysis of variance
- ATMT:
-
Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation
- BPH:
-
Brown planthopper
- Bt:
-
Bacillus thuringiensis
- DIG:
-
Digoxigenin
- dsRNA:
-
Double-stranded RNA
- EDTA:
-
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
- GFP:
-
Green fluorescent protein
- GST:
-
Glutathione S-transferase
- GE:
-
Genetically engineered
- GUS:
-
β-Glucuronidase
- HIGS:
-
Host-induced gene silencing
- LSD:
-
The least significant difference
- MS medium:
-
Murashige and Skoog medium
- NCBI:
-
National Center for Biotechnology Information
- NR:
-
RNA mixed
- nt:
-
Nucleotide
- NTO:
-
Non-target organism
- P450:
-
Cytochrome P450 monooxygenase
- PCR:
-
Polymerase chain reaction
- qRT-PCR:
-
Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction
- RISC:
-
RNA-induced silencing complex
- RNAi:
-
RNA interference
- SDS:
-
Sodium dodecyl sulfate
- SSC:
-
Mixed buffer of sodium chloride and sodium citrate
- TN1:
-
Taichung Native 1 (a rice cultivar)
- WBPH:
-
White-backed planthopper
- WT:
-
Wild-type
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Professors Chengui Han and Zejian Guo (China Agricultural University) for providing pMCG161 RNAi vector and pCAMBIA1301 transformation vector, respectively. We also thank Professor Hongxia Hua (Huazhong Agricultural University) for providing the brown planthopper (biotype II) and anonymous Reviewers for excellent suggestions.
Funding
This work was supported by the “the National Key Research and Development Program of China” (2016YFD0300203) and the Chinese Universities Scientific Fund (2015NX001).
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10340_2020_1296_MOESM1_ESM.pdf
Figure S1. Construction of rice RNAi vector. Rice RNAi vector pCAMBIA1301-NlGST1-1 was constructed on the basis of the pCAMBIA1301 plasmid vector and pMCG161 RNAi vector. The two-step cloning procedure for generation of the constructs is illustrated as the followings. The region between the two restriction enzyme cutting sites BamH I and Hind III derived from the T-DNA region of pMCG161 RNAi vector contains the CaMV 35S promoter (CaMV35S) upstream of rice waxy-A1 introns and an octopine synthase 3′ end (OSC3′). Two multiple cloning sites are located on both sides of the rice waxy-A intron (Intron), providing sites for cloning target gene in an inverted orientation (open arrows). The fragment between the left (LB) and right (RB) boundaries of the pCAMBIA1301 plasmid vector contains CaMV 35S polyA (PolyA), hygromycin resistance gene (hpt), CaMV 35S promoter (CaMV35S), multiple cloning sites, and a GUS marker gene (GUS). The pCAMBIA1301 vector was linearized with restriction enzymes BamH I and Hind III and ligated to the region between the two restriction sites BamH I and Hind III of pMCG161 RNAi vector to generate the recombinant vector. The NlGST1-1 sequences (full-length or fragment) were inserted two multiple cloning sites flanked the rice waxy-A intron in the recombinant vector, and finally, the construction of the plant RNAi vector was completed. The restriction enzyme cutting sites used for vector construction are shown in this map. Figure S2. Transgenic rice plants suppress BPH NlGST1-1 expression, GST activity, relative growth rate and female fecundity. When BPH fed on gst651 or gst426 lines, the reduced percentages of BPH NlGST1-1 expression level (a), GST activity (b), relative growth rate (c) and female fecundity (d) were statistically analyzed. Data represent the mean ± SD from four replicates via Paired Samples t Test. * and ** indicate significance at P < 0.05 and 0.01, respectively (PDF 353 kb)
10340_2020_1296_MOESM2_ESM.xlsx
Table S1. Used primers for detection of target gene in RNAi vector and identification of transgenic rice plants. Table S2. BPH NlGST1-1 21-nucleotide (nt). Table S3. The 21-nt matches with other species (XLSX 34 kb)
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Yang, J., Sun, XQ., Zhu-Salzman, K. et al. Host-induced gene silencing of brown planthopper glutathione S-transferase gene enhances rice resistance to sap-sucking insect pests. J Pest Sci 94, 769–781 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-020-01296-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-020-01296-6