Center of Excellence in Molecular Biology (CEMB), University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Gujrat, Gujrat, Pakistan.
PLoS One. 2021 May 4;16(5):e0250902. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0250902. eCollection 2021.
Sucking insects require a surface of plants on which the legs and the eggs of insects will adhere and to which insect mouthparts will access. The primary plant protection against insects is their surface property, which hinders the attachment of the insect's legs and eggs. The epicuticular waxes chemistry influences the fine structure of the cuticular surface. In current study, an attempt was made to investigate the variation of chemical compounds in epicuticular waxes of four cotton species that classify them resistant or susceptible i.e., Gossypium abroreum, G. hirsutum, G. arboreum wax deficient mutant (GaWM3) and G. harknessi which were evaluated for their interaction with whitefly and CLCuV transmission. Gossypium hirsutum an insect and CLCuV susceptible cotton variety, was found to have four compounds namely Trichloroacetic acid, hexadecylester, P-xylenolpthalein, 2-cyclopentene-1-ol, 1-phenyl-and Phenol, 2,5-bis [1,1- dimethyl] which could interact with chitin of whitefly while only two compounds in Gossypium arboreum an insect and CLCuV resistant cotton variety could interact with chitin of whitefly. Similarly, GaWM3 and Gossypium harkasnessi were found to have only a single compound. Number of whiteflies found on leaves of G. hirsutum was much higher as compared to other cotton species. Keeping this fact in mind a wax biosynthetic gene CER3, from Arabidopsis thaliana was transformed into G. hirsutum and the plants were evaluated for their resistance against whitefly and CLCuV transmission. In microscopic analysis transgenic plants clearly showed higher amounts of leaf waxes as compared to non-transgenics. The least whitefly population and CLCuV titer of <10,000 units was found in transgenic plants compared to non-transgenic cotton where it was ≈4.5X106 units that confirmed the role of wax in insect interaction and ultimately to CLCuV transmission. This study provides novel insight on wax related compounds involved in cotton-whitefly interaction, which potentially can help in developing more efficient control strategies for this destructive pest.
刺吸式昆虫需要一个植物表面，昆虫的腿和卵将附着在该表面上，昆虫的口器也可以接触到该表面。植物防止昆虫侵害的主要方法是其表面特性，这会阻碍昆虫腿和卵的附着。表皮蜡的化学成分影响表皮表面的精细结构。在当前的研究中，尝试研究了四种棉花物种的表皮蜡中化学化合物的变化，这些物种被归类为抗虫或感虫，即 Gossypium abroreum、G. hirsutum、G. arboreum wax deficient mutant (GaWM3) 和 G. harknessi，它们被评估与粉虱和 CLCuV 传播的相互作用。发现对粉虱和 CLCuV 敏感的棉花品种 Gossypium hirsutum 有四种化合物，即三氯乙酸、十六酸酯、对二甲苯酚酞、2-环戊烯-1-醇、1-苯基-和苯酚、2,5-双[1,1-二甲基]，这些化合物可以与粉虱的几丁质相互作用，而对粉虱的几丁质具有相互作用的棉花品种 Gossypium arboreum 只有两种化合物。同样，GaWM3 和 Gossypium harkasnessi 只发现了一种化合物。在 G. hirsutum 叶片上发现的粉虱数量明显高于其他棉花物种。考虑到这一事实，从拟南芥中转化了蜡生物合成基因 CER3 到 G. hirsutum，并评估了这些植物对粉虱和 CLCuV 传播的抗性。在显微镜分析中，转基因植物与非转基因植物相比，明显显示出更高量的叶片蜡。与非转基因棉花相比，转基因植物中的粉虱种群最少，CLCuV 滴度<10,000 单位，这证实了蜡在昆虫相互作用中的作用，最终影响 CLCuV 的传播。这项研究提供了关于参与棉花-粉虱相互作用的蜡相关化合物的新见解，这可能有助于为这种具有破坏性的害虫开发更有效的控制策略。
