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Entomologia Experimentalis Et Applicata, Jun 26, 2022
Floral volatiles are among the well‐known cues that mediate plant‐pollinator interactions. Unders... more Floral volatiles are among the well‐known cues that mediate plant‐pollinator interactions. Understanding plant‐pollinator interactions is especially important in arid regions, where the low abundance of pollinators limits their visiting frequency and, thus, constraints the reproductive success of many plant species. Moreover, plants in such arid habitats are exposed to abiotic stress, particularly to water shortage. Plants in arid habitats are also prone to suffer from multiple stress factors, such as the addition of pathogen and herbivore attacks. All these stress factors induce disruptions in the plant metabolism and increase physiological costs that may lead to changes in floral volatiles, thus affecting the communication between the plant and its pollinators, consequently intensifying the constraints on the plants' reproductive success. To explore this general hypothesis, we used as a model Matthiola livida (Delile) DC. (Brassicaceae), a common native plant species in arid regions of the Middle East. We first tested whether water shortage and insect herbivory, inflicted by whiteflies, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), caused stress in M. livida, based on the change in carbohydrates and starch content, and examined whether the plants produced distinct volatile composition in response to these stressors. Then, we tested whether bumblebees, Bombus terrestris (L.) (Hymenoptera: Apidae), common pollinators of M. livida, were able to differentiate between plants suffering from water shortage and insect herbivory based only on volatile emission. We found that both water shortage and insect herbivory caused stress in the plants. We also found that the plants produced a distinct volatile composition in relation to the specific stress they were exposed to. Specifically, in comparison to control plants, insect herbivory increased the amounts of volatile alkanes, aldehydes, and alcohols, and reduced the amounts of esters, benzenoids, and phenylpropanoids. Water shortage reduced the amount of aldehyde volatiles and increased the amount of alcohol volatiles. Moreover, using choice experiments, we found that bumblebees differentiated between stressed and non‐stressed plants based on their volatile compositions, and preferred less stressed ones. Our study indicated that pollinators may use floral volatiles in their foraging decisions and are highly sensitive to variation in the plant conditions. This suggests that volatile cues may create a constraint on the ability of the plants to secure their reproductive success in arid habitats, that are added to the direct stress created by the arid conditions themselves.
IntroductionDuring the 20th century, the worldwide genetic diversity of wheat was sharply eroded ... more IntroductionDuring the 20th century, the worldwide genetic diversity of wheat was sharply eroded by continual selection for high yields and industry demands for particular standardized qualities. A collection of Israeli and Palestinian landraces (IPLR) was established to represent genetic diversity, accumulated for ten millennia under diverse environments, which was mostly lost in this transition. As our long-term goal is to study this pre- Green Revolution genetic reservoir, herein we focus on its flour and bread quality and sensorial attributes.MethodsInitially, a database was built for the entire IPLR collection (n=901) holding both Triticum durum (durum wheat) and T. aestivum (bread wheat) which included genetic and phenotypic characterization of agronomic traits, grain and flour quality. Then, a representative subset of the IPLR was selected and compared to modern varieties for dough quality, rheology, aroma and taste using both whole and refined flours and breads. The sensory ...
Benzoxazinoids are plant specialized metabolites with defense properties, highly abundant in whea... more Benzoxazinoids are plant specialized metabolites with defense properties, highly abundant in wheat (Triticum), one of the world's most important crops. The goal of our study was to characterize dioxygenase BX6 genes in tetraploid and hexaploid wheat genotypes and to elucidate their effects on defense against herbivores. Phylogenetic analysis revealed four BX6 genes in the hexaploid wheat T. aestivum, but only one ortholog was found in the tetraploid (T. turgidum) wild emmer wheat and the cultivated durum wheat. Transcriptome sequencing of durum wheat plants, damaged by either aphids or caterpillars, revealed that several BX genes, including TtBX6, were upregulated upon caterpillar feeding, relative to the undamaged control plants. A virus-induced gene silencing approach was used to reduce the expression of BX6 in T. aestivum plants, which exhibited both reduced transcript levels and reduced accumulation of different benzoxazinoids. To elucidate the effect of BX6 on plant defense, bioassays with different herbivores feeding on BX6-silenced leaves were conducted. The results showed that plants with silenced BX6 were more susceptible to aphids and the two-spotted spider mite than the control. Overall, our study indicates that wheat BX6 is involved in benzoxazinoid formation in planta and contributes to plant resistance against insect herbivores.
Significant (FDR < 0.01) GO terms (biological processes) associated with the grouped DEGs. (XL... more Significant (FDR < 0.01) GO terms (biological processes) associated with the grouped DEGs. (XLS 54Â kb)
Rice (Oryza sativa L.), which is a staple food for more than half of the world's population, ... more Rice (Oryza sativa L.), which is a staple food for more than half of the world's population, is frequently attacked by herbivorous insects, including the rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis. C. suppressalis substantially reduces rice yields in temperate regions of Asia, but little is known about how rice plants defend themselves against this herbivore at molecular and biochemical level. In the current study, we combined next-generation RNA sequencing and metabolomics techniques to investigate the changes in gene expression and in metabolic processes in rice plants that had been continuously fed by C. suppressalis larvae for different durations (0, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h). Furthermore, the data were validated using quantitative real-time PCR. There were 4,729 genes and 151 metabolites differently regulated when rice plants were damaged by C. suppressalis larvae. Further analyses showed that defense-related phytohormones, transcript factors, shikimate-mediated and terpenoid-related ...
Autophagy, an intracellular process that facilitates the degradation of cytoplasmic materials, pl... more Autophagy, an intracellular process that facilitates the degradation of cytoplasmic materials, plays a dominant role in plant fitness and immunity. While autophagy was shown to be involved in plant response to fungi, bacteria, and viruses, its role in response to insect herbivory is as yet unknown. In this study, we demonstrate a role of autophagy in plant defense against herbivory usingArabidopsis thalianaand the green peach aphid,Myzus persicae. Following six hours of aphid infestation of wildtype plants, we observed high expression of the autophagy-related genesATG8aandATG8f, as well asNBR1(Next to BRCA1 gene 1), a selective autophagy receptor. Moreover, the number of autophagosomes detected by the overexpression of GFP-fused ATG8f in Arabidopsis increased upon aphid infestation. Following this,atg5.1andatg7.2mutants were used to study the effect of autophagy on aphid reproduction and feeding behavior. While aphid reproduction on both mutants was lower than on wildtype, feeding b...
RNA interference (RNAi)-based technologies are starting to be commercialized as a new approach fo... more RNA interference (RNAi)-based technologies are starting to be commercialized as a new approach for agricultural pest control. Horizontally transferred genes (HTGs), which have been transferred into insect genomes from viruses, bacteria, fungi, or plants, are attractive targets for RNAi-mediated pest control. HTGs are often unique to a specific insect family or even genus, making it unlikely that RNAi constructs targeting such genes will have negative effects on ladybugs, lacewings, and other beneficial predatory insect species. In this study, we sequenced the genome of a red, tobacco-adapted isolate of Myzus persicae (green peach aphid) and bioinformaticaly identified 30 HTGs. We then used plant-mediated virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) to show that several HTGs of bacterial and plant origin are important for aphid growth and/or survival. Silencing the expression of fungal HTGs did not affect aphid survivorship, but decreased aphid reproduction. Importantly, although there was up...
The whitefly Bemisia tabaci is one of the most important agricultural pests due to its extreme in... more The whitefly Bemisia tabaci is one of the most important agricultural pests due to its extreme invasiveness, insecticide resistance, and ability to transmit hundreds of plant viruses. Among these, Begomoviruses and recombinant whitefly-borne Poleroviruses are transmitted persistently. Several studies have shown that upon infection, plant viruses manipulate plant-emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which have important roles in communication with insects. In this study, we profiled and compared the VOCs emitted by tomato and pepper plant leaves after infection with the Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) (Bogomoviruses) and the newly discovered Pepper whitefly-borne vein yellows virus (PeWBVYV) (Poleroviruses), respectively. The results identified shared emitted VOCs but also uncovered unique VOC signatures for each virus and for whitefly infestation (i.e., without virus infection) independently. The results suggest that plants have general defense responses; however, they a...
This Excel file contains molecular marker data for B73 x Ky21 recombinant inbred lines. Marker da... more This Excel file contains molecular marker data for B73 x Ky21 recombinant inbred lines. Marker data were downloaded from www.panzea.org. The same marker data, in a format for use with the WinQTL genetic mapping program, are included in the file "WinQTL data for Fig 5A - QTL mapping of aphid progeny on B73xKY21 RILs
Plants in nature have inducible defenses that sometimes lead to targeted resistance against parti... more Plants in nature have inducible defenses that sometimes lead to targeted resistance against particular herbivores, but susceptibility to others. The metabolic diversity and genetic resources available for maize (Zea mays) make this a suitable system for a mechanistic study of within-species variation in such plant-mediated interactions between herbivores. Beet armyworms (Spodoptera exigua) and corn leaf aphids (Rhopalosiphum maidis) are two naturally occurring maize herbivores with different feeding habits. Whereas chewing herbivore-induced methylation of 2,4-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-1,4-benzoxazin-3-one glucoside (DIMBOA-Glc) to form 2-hydroxy-4,7-dimethoxy-1,4-benzoxazin-3-one glucoside (HDMBOA-Glc) promotes caterpillar resistance, lower DIMBOA-Glc levels favor aphid reproduction. Thus, caterpillar-induced DIMBOA-Glc methyltransferase activity in maize is predicted to promote aphid growth. To test this hypothesis, the impact of S. exigua feeding on R. maidis progeny production was assessed using seventeen genetically diverse maize inbred lines. Whereas aphid progeny production was increased by prior caterpillar feeding on lines B73, Ki11, Ki3, and Tx303, it decreased on lines Ky21, CML103, Mo18W, and W22. Genetic mapping of this trait in a population of B73 x Ky21 recombinant inbred lines identified significant quantitative trait loci on maize chromosomes 1, 7 and 10. There is transgressive segregation for aphid resistance, with the Ky21 alleles on chromosomes 1 and 7 and the B73 allele on chromosome 10 increasing aphid progeny production. The chromosome 1 QTL coincides with a cluster of three maize genes encoding benzoxazinoid O-methyltransferases that convert DIMBOA-Glc to HDMBOA-Glc. Gene expression studies and benzoxazinoid measurements indicate that S. exigua-induced responses in this pathway differentially affect R. maidis resistance in B73 and Ky21
KEY MESSAGE A combined transcriptomic and metabolic analysis of Setaria viridis leaves responding... more KEY MESSAGE A combined transcriptomic and metabolic analysis of Setaria viridis leaves responding to aphid infestation was used to identify genes related to serotonin biosynthesis. Setaria viridis (green foxtail), a short life-cycle C4 plant in the Poaceae family, is the wild ancestor of Setaria italica (foxtail millet), a resilient crop that provides good yields in dry and marginal land. Although S. viridis has been studied extensively in the last decade, the molecular mechanisms of insect resistance in this species remain under-investigated. To address this issue, we performed a metabolic analysis of S. viridis and discovered that these plants accumulate the tryptophan-derived compounds tryptamine and serotonin. To elucidate the defensive functions of serotonin, Rhophalosiphum padi (bird cherry-oat aphids) were exposed to this compound, either by exogenous application to the plant medium or with artificial diet bioassays. In both cases, exposure to serotonin increased aphid mortality. To identify genes that are involved in serotonin biosynthesis, we conducted a transcriptome analysis and identified several predicted S. viridis tryptophan decarboxylase (TDC) and tryptamine 5-hydroxylase (T5H) genes. Two candidate genes were ectopically expressed in Nicotiana tabacum, where SvTDC1 (Sevir.6G066200) had tryptophan decarboxylase activity, and SvT5H1 (Sevir.8G219600) had tryptamine hydroxylase activity. Moreover, the function of the SvTDC1 gene was validated using virus-induced gene silencing in S. italica, which caused a reduction in serotonin levels. This study provides the first evidence of serotonin biosynthesis in Setaria leaves. The biosynthesis of serotonin may play an important role in defense responses and could prove to be useful for developing more pest-tolerant Setaria italica cultivars.
Additional file 1: Table S1. Mapping sequence reads to the Chinese Spring reference genome. Table... more Additional file 1: Table S1. Mapping sequence reads to the Chinese Spring reference genome. Table S2. Total RNA-seq values after rlog normalization. Annotations to the D subgenome or an unidentified subgenome (U) were eliminated. Table S3. Distribution of wheat genes into the eight clusters. Table S4. Gene annotation including the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium database (IWGSC) and Phytozome gene ID. Table S5. Biological processes from the Singular Enrichment Analysis with agriGO v2 for significantly differentially expressed genes between each pair of genotypes. The data was divided into the eight k-means clusters. Only statistically significant GO terms are shown (FDR
Entomologia Experimentalis Et Applicata, Jun 26, 2022
Floral volatiles are among the well‐known cues that mediate plant‐pollinator interactions. Unders... more Floral volatiles are among the well‐known cues that mediate plant‐pollinator interactions. Understanding plant‐pollinator interactions is especially important in arid regions, where the low abundance of pollinators limits their visiting frequency and, thus, constraints the reproductive success of many plant species. Moreover, plants in such arid habitats are exposed to abiotic stress, particularly to water shortage. Plants in arid habitats are also prone to suffer from multiple stress factors, such as the addition of pathogen and herbivore attacks. All these stress factors induce disruptions in the plant metabolism and increase physiological costs that may lead to changes in floral volatiles, thus affecting the communication between the plant and its pollinators, consequently intensifying the constraints on the plants' reproductive success. To explore this general hypothesis, we used as a model Matthiola livida (Delile) DC. (Brassicaceae), a common native plant species in arid regions of the Middle East. We first tested whether water shortage and insect herbivory, inflicted by whiteflies, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), caused stress in M. livida, based on the change in carbohydrates and starch content, and examined whether the plants produced distinct volatile composition in response to these stressors. Then, we tested whether bumblebees, Bombus terrestris (L.) (Hymenoptera: Apidae), common pollinators of M. livida, were able to differentiate between plants suffering from water shortage and insect herbivory based only on volatile emission. We found that both water shortage and insect herbivory caused stress in the plants. We also found that the plants produced a distinct volatile composition in relation to the specific stress they were exposed to. Specifically, in comparison to control plants, insect herbivory increased the amounts of volatile alkanes, aldehydes, and alcohols, and reduced the amounts of esters, benzenoids, and phenylpropanoids. Water shortage reduced the amount of aldehyde volatiles and increased the amount of alcohol volatiles. Moreover, using choice experiments, we found that bumblebees differentiated between stressed and non‐stressed plants based on their volatile compositions, and preferred less stressed ones. Our study indicated that pollinators may use floral volatiles in their foraging decisions and are highly sensitive to variation in the plant conditions. This suggests that volatile cues may create a constraint on the ability of the plants to secure their reproductive success in arid habitats, that are added to the direct stress created by the arid conditions themselves.
IntroductionDuring the 20th century, the worldwide genetic diversity of wheat was sharply eroded ... more IntroductionDuring the 20th century, the worldwide genetic diversity of wheat was sharply eroded by continual selection for high yields and industry demands for particular standardized qualities. A collection of Israeli and Palestinian landraces (IPLR) was established to represent genetic diversity, accumulated for ten millennia under diverse environments, which was mostly lost in this transition. As our long-term goal is to study this pre- Green Revolution genetic reservoir, herein we focus on its flour and bread quality and sensorial attributes.MethodsInitially, a database was built for the entire IPLR collection (n=901) holding both Triticum durum (durum wheat) and T. aestivum (bread wheat) which included genetic and phenotypic characterization of agronomic traits, grain and flour quality. Then, a representative subset of the IPLR was selected and compared to modern varieties for dough quality, rheology, aroma and taste using both whole and refined flours and breads. The sensory ...
Benzoxazinoids are plant specialized metabolites with defense properties, highly abundant in whea... more Benzoxazinoids are plant specialized metabolites with defense properties, highly abundant in wheat (Triticum), one of the world's most important crops. The goal of our study was to characterize dioxygenase BX6 genes in tetraploid and hexaploid wheat genotypes and to elucidate their effects on defense against herbivores. Phylogenetic analysis revealed four BX6 genes in the hexaploid wheat T. aestivum, but only one ortholog was found in the tetraploid (T. turgidum) wild emmer wheat and the cultivated durum wheat. Transcriptome sequencing of durum wheat plants, damaged by either aphids or caterpillars, revealed that several BX genes, including TtBX6, were upregulated upon caterpillar feeding, relative to the undamaged control plants. A virus-induced gene silencing approach was used to reduce the expression of BX6 in T. aestivum plants, which exhibited both reduced transcript levels and reduced accumulation of different benzoxazinoids. To elucidate the effect of BX6 on plant defense, bioassays with different herbivores feeding on BX6-silenced leaves were conducted. The results showed that plants with silenced BX6 were more susceptible to aphids and the two-spotted spider mite than the control. Overall, our study indicates that wheat BX6 is involved in benzoxazinoid formation in planta and contributes to plant resistance against insect herbivores.
Significant (FDR < 0.01) GO terms (biological processes) associated with the grouped DEGs. (XL... more Significant (FDR < 0.01) GO terms (biological processes) associated with the grouped DEGs. (XLS 54Â kb)
Rice (Oryza sativa L.), which is a staple food for more than half of the world's population, ... more Rice (Oryza sativa L.), which is a staple food for more than half of the world's population, is frequently attacked by herbivorous insects, including the rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis. C. suppressalis substantially reduces rice yields in temperate regions of Asia, but little is known about how rice plants defend themselves against this herbivore at molecular and biochemical level. In the current study, we combined next-generation RNA sequencing and metabolomics techniques to investigate the changes in gene expression and in metabolic processes in rice plants that had been continuously fed by C. suppressalis larvae for different durations (0, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h). Furthermore, the data were validated using quantitative real-time PCR. There were 4,729 genes and 151 metabolites differently regulated when rice plants were damaged by C. suppressalis larvae. Further analyses showed that defense-related phytohormones, transcript factors, shikimate-mediated and terpenoid-related ...
Autophagy, an intracellular process that facilitates the degradation of cytoplasmic materials, pl... more Autophagy, an intracellular process that facilitates the degradation of cytoplasmic materials, plays a dominant role in plant fitness and immunity. While autophagy was shown to be involved in plant response to fungi, bacteria, and viruses, its role in response to insect herbivory is as yet unknown. In this study, we demonstrate a role of autophagy in plant defense against herbivory usingArabidopsis thalianaand the green peach aphid,Myzus persicae. Following six hours of aphid infestation of wildtype plants, we observed high expression of the autophagy-related genesATG8aandATG8f, as well asNBR1(Next to BRCA1 gene 1), a selective autophagy receptor. Moreover, the number of autophagosomes detected by the overexpression of GFP-fused ATG8f in Arabidopsis increased upon aphid infestation. Following this,atg5.1andatg7.2mutants were used to study the effect of autophagy on aphid reproduction and feeding behavior. While aphid reproduction on both mutants was lower than on wildtype, feeding b...
RNA interference (RNAi)-based technologies are starting to be commercialized as a new approach fo... more RNA interference (RNAi)-based technologies are starting to be commercialized as a new approach for agricultural pest control. Horizontally transferred genes (HTGs), which have been transferred into insect genomes from viruses, bacteria, fungi, or plants, are attractive targets for RNAi-mediated pest control. HTGs are often unique to a specific insect family or even genus, making it unlikely that RNAi constructs targeting such genes will have negative effects on ladybugs, lacewings, and other beneficial predatory insect species. In this study, we sequenced the genome of a red, tobacco-adapted isolate of Myzus persicae (green peach aphid) and bioinformaticaly identified 30 HTGs. We then used plant-mediated virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) to show that several HTGs of bacterial and plant origin are important for aphid growth and/or survival. Silencing the expression of fungal HTGs did not affect aphid survivorship, but decreased aphid reproduction. Importantly, although there was up...
The whitefly Bemisia tabaci is one of the most important agricultural pests due to its extreme in... more The whitefly Bemisia tabaci is one of the most important agricultural pests due to its extreme invasiveness, insecticide resistance, and ability to transmit hundreds of plant viruses. Among these, Begomoviruses and recombinant whitefly-borne Poleroviruses are transmitted persistently. Several studies have shown that upon infection, plant viruses manipulate plant-emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which have important roles in communication with insects. In this study, we profiled and compared the VOCs emitted by tomato and pepper plant leaves after infection with the Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) (Bogomoviruses) and the newly discovered Pepper whitefly-borne vein yellows virus (PeWBVYV) (Poleroviruses), respectively. The results identified shared emitted VOCs but also uncovered unique VOC signatures for each virus and for whitefly infestation (i.e., without virus infection) independently. The results suggest that plants have general defense responses; however, they a...
This Excel file contains molecular marker data for B73 x Ky21 recombinant inbred lines. Marker da... more This Excel file contains molecular marker data for B73 x Ky21 recombinant inbred lines. Marker data were downloaded from www.panzea.org. The same marker data, in a format for use with the WinQTL genetic mapping program, are included in the file "WinQTL data for Fig 5A - QTL mapping of aphid progeny on B73xKY21 RILs
Plants in nature have inducible defenses that sometimes lead to targeted resistance against parti... more Plants in nature have inducible defenses that sometimes lead to targeted resistance against particular herbivores, but susceptibility to others. The metabolic diversity and genetic resources available for maize (Zea mays) make this a suitable system for a mechanistic study of within-species variation in such plant-mediated interactions between herbivores. Beet armyworms (Spodoptera exigua) and corn leaf aphids (Rhopalosiphum maidis) are two naturally occurring maize herbivores with different feeding habits. Whereas chewing herbivore-induced methylation of 2,4-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-1,4-benzoxazin-3-one glucoside (DIMBOA-Glc) to form 2-hydroxy-4,7-dimethoxy-1,4-benzoxazin-3-one glucoside (HDMBOA-Glc) promotes caterpillar resistance, lower DIMBOA-Glc levels favor aphid reproduction. Thus, caterpillar-induced DIMBOA-Glc methyltransferase activity in maize is predicted to promote aphid growth. To test this hypothesis, the impact of S. exigua feeding on R. maidis progeny production was assessed using seventeen genetically diverse maize inbred lines. Whereas aphid progeny production was increased by prior caterpillar feeding on lines B73, Ki11, Ki3, and Tx303, it decreased on lines Ky21, CML103, Mo18W, and W22. Genetic mapping of this trait in a population of B73 x Ky21 recombinant inbred lines identified significant quantitative trait loci on maize chromosomes 1, 7 and 10. There is transgressive segregation for aphid resistance, with the Ky21 alleles on chromosomes 1 and 7 and the B73 allele on chromosome 10 increasing aphid progeny production. The chromosome 1 QTL coincides with a cluster of three maize genes encoding benzoxazinoid O-methyltransferases that convert DIMBOA-Glc to HDMBOA-Glc. Gene expression studies and benzoxazinoid measurements indicate that S. exigua-induced responses in this pathway differentially affect R. maidis resistance in B73 and Ky21
KEY MESSAGE A combined transcriptomic and metabolic analysis of Setaria viridis leaves responding... more KEY MESSAGE A combined transcriptomic and metabolic analysis of Setaria viridis leaves responding to aphid infestation was used to identify genes related to serotonin biosynthesis. Setaria viridis (green foxtail), a short life-cycle C4 plant in the Poaceae family, is the wild ancestor of Setaria italica (foxtail millet), a resilient crop that provides good yields in dry and marginal land. Although S. viridis has been studied extensively in the last decade, the molecular mechanisms of insect resistance in this species remain under-investigated. To address this issue, we performed a metabolic analysis of S. viridis and discovered that these plants accumulate the tryptophan-derived compounds tryptamine and serotonin. To elucidate the defensive functions of serotonin, Rhophalosiphum padi (bird cherry-oat aphids) were exposed to this compound, either by exogenous application to the plant medium or with artificial diet bioassays. In both cases, exposure to serotonin increased aphid mortality. To identify genes that are involved in serotonin biosynthesis, we conducted a transcriptome analysis and identified several predicted S. viridis tryptophan decarboxylase (TDC) and tryptamine 5-hydroxylase (T5H) genes. Two candidate genes were ectopically expressed in Nicotiana tabacum, where SvTDC1 (Sevir.6G066200) had tryptophan decarboxylase activity, and SvT5H1 (Sevir.8G219600) had tryptamine hydroxylase activity. Moreover, the function of the SvTDC1 gene was validated using virus-induced gene silencing in S. italica, which caused a reduction in serotonin levels. This study provides the first evidence of serotonin biosynthesis in Setaria leaves. The biosynthesis of serotonin may play an important role in defense responses and could prove to be useful for developing more pest-tolerant Setaria italica cultivars.
Additional file 1: Table S1. Mapping sequence reads to the Chinese Spring reference genome. Table... more Additional file 1: Table S1. Mapping sequence reads to the Chinese Spring reference genome. Table S2. Total RNA-seq values after rlog normalization. Annotations to the D subgenome or an unidentified subgenome (U) were eliminated. Table S3. Distribution of wheat genes into the eight clusters. Table S4. Gene annotation including the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium database (IWGSC) and Phytozome gene ID. Table S5. Biological processes from the Singular Enrichment Analysis with agriGO v2 for significantly differentially expressed genes between each pair of genotypes. The data was divided into the eight k-means clusters. Only statistically significant GO terms are shown (FDR
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