A secreted salivary effector from Riptortus pedestris impairs soybean defense through modulating phytohormone signaling pathways

This study found that a salivary protein Rp2155 ofRiptortus pedestris was involved in promoting pest infestation, and provided a useful RNA interference target for pest control. Our results also demonstrated evidence to help understand the role of the salivary proteins on the prevention and treatment of staygreen syndrome. AbstractRiptortus pedestris (Fabricius), one of the major piercing-sucking insects in soybeans, causes delayed plant senescence and abnormal pods, known as staygreen syndrome. Recent research has shown that direct feeding of this insect is the major cause of soybean staygreen syndrome. However, it remains unclear whetherR. pedestris salivary proteins play vital roles in insect infestation. Here, we found that 4 secretory salivary proteins can induce cell death inNicotiana benthamiana by transient heterologous expression. The cell death induced by Rp2155 relies on the nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat helper, HSP90. Tissue-specificity assays indicated thatRp2155 is specifically expressed in the salivary gland ofR. pedestris and is significantly induced during insect feeding. The expression of salicylic acid (SA)-, jasmonic acid (JA)-related genes was increased in soybean when fed byRp2155-silencedR. pedestris. More importantly, soybean staygreen symptoms caused byR. pedestris were significantly alleviated whenRp2155 was silenced. Together, these results suggest that the salivary effector Rp2155 is involved in promoting insect infestation by suppressing ...

Source: Insect Science - May 5, 2023 Category: Biology Authors: Yue Huang, Biao Hu, Zhongyan Wei, Shiqi Shan, Chunyun Guo, Hehong Zhang, Yanjun Li, Jianping Chen, Xue Kang, Haijian Huang, Zongtao Sun Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research