Department of Entomology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, 68583, USA.
Department of Biochemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, 68583, USA.
Sci Rep. 2022 Jul 22;12(1):12535. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-16792-1.
The economic importance of wheat and its contribution to human and livestock diets has been already demonstrated. However, wheat production is impacted by pests that induce yield reductions. Among these pests, wheat curl mite (WCM, Aceria tosichella Keifer) impacts wheat all around the world. WCM are tiny pests that feed within the whorl of developing leaves, and their feeding causes leaf curling by preventing them from unfurling. The curling of the leaves provides a protective niche for the WCM. Additionally, WCM are also the vector of serious viruses in wheat. Little is known regarding the impact of the WCM on wheat transcriptome, and to date, only one article has been published describing the wheat transcriptomic changes after 1 day of WCM feeding. To better understand the wheat transcriptome variation after extended feeding by WCM [10 days post infestation (dpi)], we used an RNA-seq approach. We collected WCM-infested and uninfested leaves from two wheat cultivars: Byrd (WCM resistant) and Settler CL (WCM susceptible) at 10 dpi. Our transcriptomic analysis revealed the common and specific transcriptomic variations in WCM resistant and susceptible wheat cultivars, chromosome 3D specific location of the differentially expressed genes with functions involved in defense and stress response, and also identified the gene functions related to lipid signaling and membrane integrity, and phytohormone pathways potentially contributing to WCM resistance. Collectively, our study provides important insights on wheat defense mechanisms against WCM after extended feeding.
小麦的经济重要性及其对人类和牲畜饮食的贡献已经得到了证明。然而，小麦生产受到了导致减产的害虫的影响。在这些害虫中，小麦卷叶螨（WCM，Aceria tosichella Keifer）在世界各地都对小麦造成了影响。WCM 是微小的害虫，它们在发育中的叶片的叶环内进食，它们的进食会阻止叶片展开，从而导致叶片卷曲。叶片的卷曲为 WCM 提供了一个保护性的栖息地。此外，WCM 还是小麦中严重病毒的载体。目前，人们对 WCM 对小麦转录组的影响知之甚少，迄今为止，只有一篇文章描述了 WCM 喂食 1 天后小麦转录组的变化。为了更好地了解 WCM 长时间喂食后小麦转录组的变化[侵染后 10 天（dpi）]，我们使用了 RNA-seq 方法。我们在 10 dpi 时，从两个小麦品种：Byrd（WCM 抗性）和 Settler CL（WCM 敏感）中收集了 WCM 感染和未感染的叶片。我们的转录组分析揭示了 WCM 抗性和敏感小麦品种中共同和特定的转录组变化、参与防御和应激反应的功能的差异表达基因在染色体 3D 上的特定位置，还确定了与脂质信号和膜完整性以及与 WCM 抗性相关的植物激素途径相关的基因功能。总之，我们的研究为 WCM 长时间喂食后小麦对 WCM 的防御机制提供了重要的见解。
