Poplar protease inhibitor expression differs in an herbivore specific manner

BMC Plant Biology

Franziska Eberl¹  Tobias G. Köllner¹  Jonathan Gershenzon¹  Thomas Fabisch¹  Sybille B. Unsicker¹  Katrin Luck¹  Heiko Vogel² 

[1] Department of Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology (MPI-CE), Hans-Knöll-Str. 8, 07745, Jena, Germany;Department of Entomology, MPI-CE, Hans-Knöll-Str. 8, 07745, Jena, Germany;

关键词: Kunitz-type trypsin inhibitors;    herbivore specificity;    woody plants;    tree defenses;    Lepidoptera;    Coleoptera;    Salicaceae;    Induced defenses;    Proteinase inhibitors;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12870-021-02936-4

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundProtease inhibitors are defense proteins widely distributed in the plant kingdom. By reducing the activity of digestive enzymes in insect guts, they reduce the availability of nutrients and thus impair the growth and development of the attacking herbivore. One well-characterized class of protease inhibitors are Kunitz-type trypsin inhibitors (KTIs), which have been described in various plant species, including Populus spp. Long-lived woody perennials like poplar trees encounter a huge diversity of herbivores, but the specificity of tree defenses towards different herbivore species is hardly studied. We therefore aimed to investigate the induction of KTIs in black poplar (P. nigra) leaves upon herbivory by three different chewing herbivores, Lymantria dispar and Amata mogadorensis caterpillars, and Phratora vulgatissima beetles.ResultsWe identified and generated full-length cDNA sequences of 17 KTIs that are upregulated upon herbivory in black poplar leaves, and analyzed the expression patterns of the eight most up-regulated KTIs via qRT-PCR. We found that beetles elicited higher transcriptional induction of KTIs than caterpillars, and that both caterpillar species induced similar KTI expression levels. Furthermore, KTI expression strongly correlated with the trypsin-inhibiting activity in the herbivore-damaged leaves, but was not dependent on damage severity, i.e. leaf area loss, for most of the genes.ConclusionsWe conclude that the induction of KTIs in black poplar is controlled at the transcriptional level in a threshold-based manner and is strongly influenced by the species identity of the herbivore. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms and ecological consequences of these patterns remain to be investigated.

【 授权许可】

CC BY