Relationship of secreted salivary protein variants to virulence in Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor (Say))

Authors: Crane, Yan Ma; Crane, Charles; Schemerhorn, Brandi

Submitted to: Advances in Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/2/2019
Publication Date: 11/5/2019
Citation: Crane, Y.M., Crane, C.F., Schemerhorn, B.J. 2019. Relationship of secreted salivary protein variants to virulence in Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor (Say)). Advances in Entomology. 8: 15-33. https://doi.org/10.4236/ae.2020.81002.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/ae.2020.81002

Interpretive Summary: Hessian fly is known to be one of the most devastating insect pests in wheat worldwide. Continual and rapid evolution of biotypes in Hessian fly in response to new resistance gene deployment has put farmers and breeders in a virtual arms race to overcome evolving virulence in the fly. Proteins from the Hessian fly salivary glands allow for it to establish a feeding site on the wheat causing stunting and irreversible damage. We examined 52 genes encoding salivary proteins to determine if we could identify specific proteins linked to virulence in biotypes. While we were not able to identify a single gene that provides biotype-wide ability to overcome deployed wheat, we did find genes of interest that warrant further consideration. This information will be useful to other scientists working to improve Hessian fly resistance and, ultimately, wheat breeders.

Technical Abstract: Salivary proteins are the initial contact between sedentary insect pests and their host plants, so expectedly one or more salivary proteins mediates the interaction between Hessian fly and wheat, in which a feeding site is established to the benefit of the fly. A survey of 52 loci annotated as insect secreted salivary proteins was conducted in 384 individuals evenly distributed among eight biotypes of Hessian fly (B, C, D, E, GP, L, O, and vH9). Amplicons were sequenced with Illumina, and sequence reads were aligned to the reference sequences from which primers had been designed. Positions of consistent base variation (998 in all) were identified and tabulated by biotype. No varying position was associated with biotype-wide virulence to any one of wheat resistance genes H3, H5, H6, H7/H8, H9, H11, H13, and H26. The multiplate pooling strategy utilized in this study is an effective, affordable way to reveal the genotype of hundreds of individuals at tens of genetic loci.