Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Invasive Insect Biocontrol & Behavior Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #299260
Title: Herbivory responsive C2H2 zinc finger transcription factor protein StZFP2 from potato

Author
item Lawrence, Susan
item Novak, Nicole
item Jones, Richard
item Farrar, Robert
item Blackburn, Michael - Mike

Submitted to: Plant Physiology and Biochemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/11/2014
Publication Date: 4/21/2014
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/61501
Citation: Lawrence, S.D., Novak, N.G., Jones, R.W., Farrar, R.R., Blackburn, M.B. 2014. Herbivory responsive C2H2 zinc finger transcription factor protein StZFP2 from potato. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry. 80:226-233.

Interpretive Summary: Control of insect pests is crucial to the success of American agriculture. Scientists have determined that a family of regulatory genes known as the Q type 2-fingered C2H2 transcription factors can play a crucial role in enhancing tolerance to stresses such as drought or saline soil. This study examines two of these genes in potato and finds that they are also expressed upon attack by insect pests. This observation is important to scientists interested in improving potato resistance to insect pests.

Technical Abstract: While C2H2 zinc finger transcription factors are often regulated by abiotic stress, their role during insect infestation has been overlooked. This study demonstrates that the transcripts of the zinc finger transcription factors StZFP1 and StZFP2 are induced in potato (Solanum tuberosum) upon infestation by either the generalist Manduca sexta or the specialist Colorado potato beetle (CPB, Leptinotarsa decemlineata). StZFP1 has been previously characterized as conferring salt tolerance to transgenic tobacco and its transcript is induced by Phytophthora infestans and several abiotic stresses. StZFP2 has not been characterized previously, but contains the hallmarks of a C2H2 zinc finger TF, with two conserved zinc finger domains and DLN motif, which encodes a transcriptional repressor domain. Expression studies demonstrate that StZFP2 transcript is also induced by salt and P. infestans. These observations expand the role of the C2H2 transcription factor in potato to include the response to chewing insect pests.