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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Biological Control of Pests Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #231392
Title: Polygalacturonase Causes Lygus-like Damage on Plants: Cloning and Identification of Western Tarnished Plant Bug (Lygus hesperus) Polygalacturonases Secreted During Feeding

Author
item CELORIO-MANCERA, MARIA DE LA PAZ - UNIV OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
item Allen, Margaret - Meg
item POWELL, ANN - UNIV OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
item AHMADI, HAMID - UNIV OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
item SALEMI, MICHELLE - UNIV OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
item PHINNEY, BRETT - UNIV OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
item SHACKEL, KENNETH - UNIV OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
item GREVE, L. CARL - UNIV OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
item TEUBER, LARRY - UNIV OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
item LABAVITCH, JOHN - UNIV OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS

Submitted to: Arthropod-Plant Interactions
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/22/2008
Publication Date: 11/12/2008
Citation: Celorio-Mancera, M., Allen, M.L., Powell, A.L., Ahmadi, H., Salemi, M.R., Phinney, B.S., Shackel, K.A., Greve, L., Teuber, L.R., Labavitch, J.M. 2008. Polygalacturonase Causes Lygus-like Damage on Plants: Cloning and Identification of Western Tarnished Plant Bug (Lygus hesperus) Polygalacturonases Secreted During Feeding. Arthropod-Plant Interactions. 2:215-225.

Interpretive Summary: The western tarnished plant bug, and its close relative the tarnished plant bug, cause severe damage to numerous crops in the United States. The enzymes these plant bugs inject into plants can cause damage, and recent research has identified some of the genes responsible for producing these damaging enzymes, which are called polygalacturonases (PGs). This paper demonstrates that PGs are responsible for plant damage, identifies some specific PG genes, and identifies PG proteins in the saliva of L. hesperus. These genes and enzymes can now be specifically targeted for control of the plant bug.

Technical Abstract: Abstract: Polygalacturonase (PG), an enzyme that degrades pectin within the plant tissue cell wall, has been postulated as the chemical cause of damage to plants by the mirid Lygus hesperus. Micro-injection of two pure recombinant Aspergillus niger PG II protein forms, the wild type enzymically active and the mutant inactive one, into alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) florets, demonstrates that the enzymatic activity rather than the PG protein structure per se elicits damage symptoms. A PG gene family has been reported for the tarnished plant bug, L. lineolaris. Here we report cloning members of the L. hesperus PG gene family, Lhpg2, obtained with L. lineolaris Pgspecific primers and a novel Lhpg4, amplified with degenerate primers designed based on the N-terminal sequence from an active, partially purified L. hesperus salivary gland PG protein. Proteomic analyses revealed that the salivary gland PGs encoded by Lhpg2 and Lhpg4 are detected in a diet into which L. hesperus has extruded its saliva when feeding.