HrpN Ea-induced deterrent effect on phloem feeding of the green peach aphid Myzus persicae requires AtGSL5 and AtMYB44 genes in Arabidopsis thaliana.

In Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) treated with the harpin protein HrpN Ea, resistance to the green peach aphid Myzus persicae, a generalist phloem-feeding insect, develops with induced expression of the AtMYB44 gene. Special GLUCAN SYNTHESIS-LIKE (GSL) genes and beta-1,3-glucan callose play an important role in plant defence responses to attacks by phloem-feeding insects. Here we report that AtGLS5 and AtMYB44 are both required for Hrp Ea-induced repression of M. persicae feeding from the phloem of Arabidopsis leaves. In 24 h successive surveys on large-scale aphid populations, the proportion of feeding aphids was much smaller in HrpN Ea-treated plants than in control plants, and aphids preferred to feed from the 37 tested atgsl mutants rather than the wild-type plant. The atgsl mutants were generated previously by mutagenesis in 12 identified AtGSL genes (AtGSL1 through AtGSL12); in the 24 h survey, both atgsl5 and atgsl6 tolerated aphid feeding, and atgsl5 was the most tolerant. Consistently, atgsl5 was also most inhibitive to the deterrent effect of HrpN Ea on the phloem-feeding activity of aphids as monitored by the electrical penetration graph technique. These results suggested an important role of the AtGSL5 gene in the effect of HrpN Ea. In response to HrpN Ea, AtGSL5 expression and callose deposition were induced in the wild-type plant but not in atgsl5. In response to HrpN Ea, moreover, the AtMYB44 gene known to be required for repression of aphid reproduction on the plant was also required for repression of the phloem-feeding activity. Small amounts of the AtGSL5 transcript and callose deposition were detected in the atmyb44 mutant, as in atgsl5. Both mutants performed similarly in tolerating the phloem-feeding activity and impairing the deterrent effect of HrpN Ea, suggesting that AtGSL5 and AtMYB44 both contributed to the effect.