Biosciences Eastern and Central Africa-International Livestock Research Institute (BecA-ILRI) Hub, Nairobi P.O. Box 30709-00100, Kenya.
Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy (CAB), Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane City, QLD 4000, Australia.
Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Dec 30;22(1):309. doi: 10.3390/ijms22010309.
Insect pests pose a serious threat to global food production. Pod borer ( (Hübner)) is one of the most destructive pests of leguminous crops. The use of host resistance has been an effective, environmentally friendly and sustainable approach for controlling several agricultural pests. The exploitation of natural variations in crop wild relatives could yield pest-resistant crop varieties. In this study, we used a high-throughput transcriptome profiling approach to investigate the defense mechanisms of susceptible cultivated and tolerant wild pigeonpea genotypes against infestation. The wild genotype displayed elevated pest-induced gene expression, including the enhanced induction of phytohormone and calcium/calmodulin signaling, transcription factors, plant volatiles and secondary metabolite genes compared to the cultivated control. The biosynthetic and regulatory processes associated with flavonoids, terpenes and glucosinolate secondary metabolites showed higher accumulations in the wild genotype, suggesting the existence of distinct tolerance mechanisms. This study provides insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying insect resistance in the wild pigeonpea genotype. This information highlights the indispensable role of crop wild relatives as a source of crucial genetic resources that could be important in devising strategies for crop improvement with enhanced pest resistance.
昆虫害虫对全球粮食生产构成严重威胁。豆荚螟（Hübner）是豆类作物最具破坏性的害虫之一。利用寄主抗性是控制多种农业害虫的一种有效、环保和可持续的方法。利用作物野生近缘种的自然变异可以产生抗虫作物品种。在这项研究中，我们使用高通量转录组谱分析方法来研究易感栽培和耐容忍野生羽扇豆基因型对侵害的防御机制。与栽培对照相比，野生基因型表现出更高的害虫诱导基因表达，包括植物激素和钙/钙调蛋白信号转导、转录因子、植物挥发物和次生代谢物基因的增强诱导。与类黄酮、萜类和硫代葡萄糖苷次生代谢物相关的生物合成和调控过程在野生基因型中积累更高，表明存在不同的耐受机制。这项研究提供了对野生羽扇豆基因型中昆虫抗性的分子机制的深入了解。这些信息突出了作物野生近缘种作为关键遗传资源来源的不可或缺作用，这些资源对于制定提高作物抗虫性的策略可能很重要。
