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ARS Home » Plains Area » Manhattan, Kansas » Center for Grain and Animal Health Research » Hard Winter Wheat Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #345263
Title: An insect nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDK) functions as an effector protein in wheat - Hessian fly interactions

Author
item WANG, ZHUHONG - Fujian Academy
item GE, JUN-QING - Fujian Academy
item CHEN, HANG - Chinese Agricultural University
item CHENG, XIAOYAN - Kansas State University
item YANG, YIQUN - Kansas State University
item LIN, JUN - Kansas State University
item WHITWORTH, ROBERT - Kansas State University
item Chen, Ming-Shun

Submitted to: Journal of Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/13/2018
Publication Date: 9/1/2018
Citation: Wang, Z., Ge, J., Chen, H., Cheng, X., Yang, Y., Lin, J., Whitworth, R.J., Chen, M. 2018. An insect nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDK) functions as an effector protein in wheat - Hessian fly interactions. Journal of Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 100:30-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibmb.2018.06.003.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibmb.2018.06.003

Interpretive Summary: Hessian fly is a major pest of wheat. Hessian fly larvae can suppress wheat growth and change metabolic pathways of the attacked wheat plant. The manipulation of wheat plants is thought to be achieved by injecting insect salivary proteins (so-called effectors) into wheat tissue during feeding. Identifying the effector proteins and revealing their functional mechanisms are needed to develop wheat cultivars with more durable resistance to the Hessian fly. So far, however, no effector protein has been identified directly from infested plants. In this study, we identified a Hessian fly protein inside wheat tissues during insect feeding. The injected protein is called nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDK), which is an enzyme that is involved in DNA synthesis and energy metabolism. Presence of the protein was correlated with several metabolic changes in the plant tissue. Our data suggests that Hessian fly larvae injected NDK into wheat tissues as an effector protein to play a role in manipulating host plant metabolism.

Technical Abstract: Like pathogens, galling insects deliver effectors into plant tissues that induce gall formation. The gall midge Mayetiola destructor, also called Hessian fly, can convert a whole wheat seedling into a gall by inducing the formation of nutritive cells at the feeding site, inhibiting wheat growth, and reprogramming metabolic pathways of the attacked plant. So far, however, no effector protein has been identified directly from infested plants. Here we demonstrated the identification of a secreted Hessian fly protein, the nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDK), in infested wheat plants through liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and western blots. In association with the NDK presence, enzymatic activity of NDK increased significantly in wheat tissues at the feeding site. In addition, there was a sudden increase in ATP abundance at the feeding site of infested susceptible wheat seedlings 24 hours following Hessian fly larval infestation. Our data points to the direction that Hessian fly larvae injected NDK into wheat tissues as an effector protein which plays a role in manipulating host plants and converting the plants into galls.