Identification of an orthologous clade of peroxidases that respond to feeding by greenbugs (Schizaphis graminum) in C4 grasses

Erin D Scully; Teresa Donze-Reiner; Haichuan Wang; Thomas E Eickhoff; Frederick Baxendale; Paul Twigg; Frank Kovacs; Tiffany Heng-Moss; Scott E Sattler; Gautam Sarath

doi:10.1071/FP16104

Identification of an orthologous clade of peroxidases that respond to feeding by greenbugs (Schizaphis graminum) in C₄ grasses

Funct Plant Biol. 2016 Dec;43(12):1134-1148. doi: 10.1071/FP16104.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Stored Product Insect and Engineering Research Unit, Center for Grain and Animal Health Research USDA-ARS, Manhattan, KS 66502, USA.
² Department of Biology, West Chester University, West Chester, PA 19382, USA.
³ Department of Entomology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA.
⁴ Department of Biology, University of Nebraska-Kearney, Kearney, NE 68849, USA.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Kearney, Kearney, NE 68849, USA.
⁶ Grain, Forage and Bioenergy Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA.

PMID: 32480533
DOI: 10.1071/FP16104

Abstract

Knowledge of specific peroxidases that respond to aphid herbivory is limited in C4 grasses, but could provide targets for improving defence against these pests. A sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) peroxidase (SbPrx-1; Sobic.002G416700) has been previously linked to biotic stress responses, and was the starting point for this study. Genomic analyses indicated that SbPrx-1 was part of a clade of five closely related peroxidase genes occurring within a ~30kb region on chromosome 2 of the sorghum genome. Comparison of this ~30-kb region to syntenic regions in switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.) identified similar related clusters of peroxidases. Infestation of a susceptible sorghum cultivar with greenbugs (Shizaphis graminum Rondani) induced three of the five peroxidases. Greenbug infestation of switchgrass and foxtail millet plants showed similar inductions of peroxidases. SbPrx-1 was also induced in response to aphid herbivory in a greenbug-resistant sorghum line, Cargill 607E. These data indicate that this genomic region of C4 grasses could be valuable as a marker to assess potential insect resistance in C4 grasses.