title: Insect Gallers and Their Plant Hosts: From Omics Data to Systems Biology.
abstract: Gall-inducing insects are capable of exerting a high level of control over their hosts' cellular machinery to the extent that the plant's development, metabolism, chemistry, and physiology are all altered in favour of the insect. Many gallers are devastating pests in global agriculture and the limited understanding of their relationship with their hosts prevents the development of robust management strategies. Omics technologies are proving to be important tools in elucidating the mechanisms involved in the interaction as they facilitate analysis of plant hosts and insect effectors for which little or no prior knowledge exists. In this review, we examine the mechanisms behind insect gall development using evidence from omics-level approaches. The secretion of effector proteins and induced phytohormonal imbalances are highlighted as likely mechanisms involved in gall development. However, understanding how these components function within the system is far from complete and a number of questions need to be answered before this information can be used in the development of strategies to engineer or breed plants with enhanced resistance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), Genomics Research Institute (GRI), University of Pretoria, Private Bag x20, Pretoria 0028, South Africa. caryn.oates@fabi.up.ac.za.
authors.forename: Caryn N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Oates
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of York, Wentworth Way, York YO10 5DD, UK. katherine.denby@york.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Katherine J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Denby
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), Genomics Research Institute (GRI), University of Pretoria, Private Bag x20, Pretoria 0028, South Africa. Zander.Myburg@up.ac.za.
authors.forename: Alexander A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Myburg
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), Genomics Research Institute (GRI), University of Pretoria, Private Bag x20, Pretoria 0028, South Africa. Bernard.Slippers@up.ac.za.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Slippers
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), Genomics Research Institute (GRI), University of Pretoria, Private Bag x20, Pretoria 0028, South Africa. Sanushka.Naidoo@up.ac.za.
authors.forename: Sanushka
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naidoo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D023281:Genomics; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D007313:Insecta / Q000502:physiology*; D055432:Metabolomics; D010941:Plant Tumors / Q000469:parasitology*; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000469:parasitology*; D040901:Proteomics; D049490:Systems Biology
keywords: effector; gall induction; galling insect; omics data; phytohormone