title: (E)-β-farnesene synthase genes affect aphid (Myzus persicae) infestation in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum).
abstract: Aphids are major agricultural pests which cause significant yield losses of the crop plants each year. (E)-β-farnesene (EβF) is the alarm pheromone involved in the chemical communication between aphids and particularly in the avoidance of predation. In the present study, two EβF synthase genes were isolated from sweet wormwood and designated as AaβFS1 and AaβFS2, respectively. Overexpression of AaβFS1 or AaβFS2 in tobacco plants resulted in the emission of EβF ranging from 1.55 to 4.65 ng/day/g fresh tissues. Tritrophic interactions involving the peach aphids (Myzus persicae), predatory lacewings (Chrysopa septempunctata) demonstrated that the transgenic tobacco expressing AaβFS1 and AaβFS2 could repel peach aphids, but not as strongly as expected. However, AaβFS1 and AaβFS2 lines exhibited strong and statistically significant attraction to lacewings. Further experiments combining aphids and lacewing larvae in an octagon arrangement showed transgenic tobacco plants could repel aphids and attract lacewing larvae, thus minimizing aphid infestation. Therefore, we demonstrated a potentially valuable strategy of using EβF synthase genes from sweet wormwood for aphid control in tobacco or other economic important crops in an environmentally benign way.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Crop Science/The National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, China.
authors.forename: Xiudao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Huw D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Youzhi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Genping
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zhaoshi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Baoming
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yongjun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Guangwei
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Pickett
authors.forename: Lanqin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001042:Aphids / Q000502:physiology*; D019306:Artemisia / Q000201:enzymology; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology; D010572:Pest Control, Biological; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011235:Predatory Behavior; D011755:Pyrophosphatases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012717:Sesquiterpenes / Q000378:metabolism; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012717:Sesquiterpenes; C062671:beta-farnesene; D011755:Pyrophosphatases; C109459:beta-farnesene synthase