Constitutive expression of Arabidopsis NPR1 confers enhanced resistance to the early instars of Spodoptera litura in transgenic tobacco.
In Arabidopsis, NPR1 (AtNPR1) regulates salicylic acid (SA)-mediated activation of PR genes at the onset of systemic acquired resistance. AtNPR1 also modulates SA-induced suppression of jasmonic acid-responsive gene expression, and npr1 mutants manifest enhanced herbivore resistance. We have raised stable transgenic tobacco lines, expressing AtNPR1 constitutively, which showed elevated expression of PR1 and PR2 genes upon SA treatment. Herbivore bioassays with a generalist polyphagous pest, Spodoptera litura, revealed that the transgenic lines exhibited enhanced resistance compared to the wild-type plants, particularly with respect to younger larval populations. Insect-mediated injury induced several protease inhibitors (PIs), more significantly a 40-kDa serine PI in all the tobacco lines, but the induction was higher in the transgenic plants. We show in this communication that heterologous expression of AtNPR1 provides enhanced resistance to early larval populations of the herbivore, Spodoptera in transgenic tobacco plants.
Meur
Gargi
G
School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad 500046, India.
Budatha
Madhusudhan
M
Srinivasan
Tantravahi
T
Rajesh Kumar
Koppolu Raja
KR
Dutta Gupta
Aparna
A
Kirti
Pulugurtha Bharadwaja
PB
D000818:Animals; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000378:metabolism*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D001681:Biological Assay; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000201:enzymology; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D017343:Genes, Plant; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000187:drug effects; D007814:Larva / Q000187:drug effects; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011480:Protease Inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020156:Salicylic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D018411:Spodoptera / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology*
D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; C105496:NPR1 protein, Arabidopsis; D011480:Protease Inhibitors; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D020156:Salicylic Acid