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Title: SUGAR BEET (BETA VULGARIS L.) GENES REGULATED BY SUGAR BEET ROOT MAGGOT (TETANOPS MYOPAEFORMIS) INFESTATION

Author
item Puthoff, David
item Smigocki, Anna

Submitted to: American Society of Sugarbeet Technologists
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2005
Publication Date: 7/1/2005
Citation: Puthoff, D.P., Smigocki, A.C. 2005. Sugar beet (beta vulgaris l.) genes regulated by sugar beet root maggot (tetanops myopaeformis) infestation. American Society of Sugarbeet Technologists. 33:214-219.

Interpretive Summary: Disease and pest problems are responsible for decreases in production of sugar from sugar beet. One of the most devastating insect pests of sugar beet is the sugar beet root maggot that is currently found in half of all U. S. sugar beet fields. Chemical insecticides are the only available measure for control of the maggot, and a strong drive exists for development of alternative control measures. We identified sugar beet genes responding to sugar beet root maggot infestation. These genes were identified in either root maggot-susceptible or moderately resistant sugar beet varieties. This information will be used by scientists to increase our knowledge of mechanisms controlling plant responses to insects and will lead to environmentally safer insect control by reducing the use of harmful pesticides.

Technical Abstract: Damage caused by the feeding of the sugar beet root maggot (SBRM, Tetanops myopaeformis) is quite devastating and can include the complete severing of young seedling roots and deformations of mature roots, and often leads to invasion by secondary pathogens. SBRM is the major insect pest on sugar beets (Beta vulgaris L.) in the U.S. and Canada and can cause major yield losses (10 – 100%) (Cooke, 1993). While moderately resistant sugar beet lines are available, they do not offer complete control (Campbell et al., 2000). The identification of genes regulated by SBRM feeding in both susceptible and moderately resistant lines will prove useful for the development of future control methods including engineering new sugar beet varieties. The Suppressive Subtractive Hybridization (SSH) method has been used in a wide range of gene identification studies (Gepstein et al., 2003; Gu et al., 2004; Shim et al., 2004). Use of SSH to identify genes regulated by SBRM larval feeding has several advantages over other methods including small amounts of starting material and rapid turn around time. In this study, we report on the use of SSH to identify sugar beet genes regulated by SBRM feeding in both moderately resistant (F1016) and susceptible (F1010) varieties.