ARS | Publication request: Differential Regulation of Genes of Metabolic Pathways during Wheat-Hessian Fly Interactions

Submitted to: Plant and Animal Genome Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: October 15, 2008
Publication Date: January 9, 2009
Citation: Subramanyam, S., Williams, C.E., Nemacheck, J.A. 2009. Differential Regulation of Genes of Metabolic Pathways during Wheat-Hessian Fly Interactions. Plant and Animal Genome Conference. Available: http://www.intl-pag.org/17/abstracts/P07a_PAGXVII_654.html

Technical Abstract: The Hessian fly is one of the most destructive pests of wheat worldwide. Virulent larvae cause stunting and yield loss to susceptible plants whereas avirulent larvae die within a few days of infesting resistant plants. We employed the Affymetrix GeneChip Wheat Genome Array to examine the temporal differences in gene expression among these interactions. Wheat tissue comprising the feeding sites of the Hessian fly larvae from resistant and susceptible plants, along with uninfested plants was used in our experiments which covered the first 8 days after egg hatch. Robust Multichip Average (RMA) analysis of microarrays was used to identify differential levels of transcripts among the samples. In resistant plants, over 800 genes were up-regulated within the first 24 hours after egg hatch. However, over the next three days the number of up-regulated genes decreased significantly. A similar trend was observed for the down-regulated genes with over 150 genes at day 1 and decreasing with time. In contrast, over 1,100 genes had elevated transcript levels in the susceptible plants on day 1 after egg hatch, with the number steadily increasing to more than 3,400 by day 8. The number of down-regulated genes also increased from around 460 genes on day 1 to over 5200 genes by day 8 in the susceptible plants. Both up- and down-regulated genes could be grouped by their involvement in complex metabolic pathways. The significance of these pathways during compatible and incompatible interactions is discussed.