scholarly journals Maintaining Biological Cultures and Measuring Gene Expression in Aphis nerii: A Non-model System for Plant-insect Interactions

10.3791/58044 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie S.L. Birnbaum ◽  
David C. Rinker ◽  
Patrick Abbot
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Model System ◽  
Aphis Nerii ◽  
Plant Insect Interactions ◽  
Insect Interactions

scholarly journals An improved Nicotiana benthamiana strain for aphid and whitefly research

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Honglin Feng ◽  
Lucia Acosta-Gamboa ◽  
Lars H. Kruse ◽  
Alba Ruth Nava Fereira ◽  
Sara Shakir ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Nicotiana Benthamiana ◽  
Plant Virus ◽  
Transient Gene Expression ◽  
Model System ◽  
Plant Insect Interactions ◽  
Transient Overexpression ◽  
Insect Interactions ◽  
Mutant Lines ◽  
Virus Interactions

AbstractNicotiana benthamiana is used extensively as a platform for transient gene expression and as a model system for studying plant-virus interactions. However, many tobacco-feeding insects, e.g. Myzus persicae (green peach aphids) and Bemisia tabaci (whiteflies), grow poorly on N. benthamiana, limiting its utility for research on plant-insect interactions. Using CRISPR/Cas9, we generated knockout mutations in two N. benthamiana acylsugar acyltransferase genes, ASAT1 and ASAT2, which contribute to the biosynthesis of insect-deterrent acylsucroses. Whereas ASAT1 mutations reduced the abundance of two predominant acylsucroses, ASAT2 mutations caused almost complete depletion of foliar acylsucroses. Both M. persicae and B. tabaci survived and reproduced significantly better on asat2 mutant plants than on wildtype N. benthamiana. Furthermore, ASAT1 and ASAT2 mutations reduced the water content and increased the temperature of leaves, indicating that foliar acylsucroses can protect against desiccation. Improved aphid and whitefly performance on ASAT2 mutants will make it possible to use the efficient transient overexpression and gene expression silencing systems that are available for N. benthamiana to study plant-insect interactions. Additionally, the absence of acylsugars in ASAT2 mutant lines will simplify transient expression assays for the functional analysis of acylsugar biosynthesis genes from other Solanaceae.

Averting robo-bees: why free-flying robotic bees are a bad idea

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 723-729
Author(s):  
Roslyn Gleadow ◽  
Jim Hanan ◽  
Alan Dorin
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Computer Simulation ◽  
Food Security ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Plant Interactions ◽  
Plant Insect Interactions ◽  
Native Habitat ◽  
Insect Pollinators ◽  
Insect Interactions

Food security and the sustainability of native ecosystems depends on plant-insect interactions in countless ways. Recently reported rapid and immense declines in insect numbers due to climate change, the use of pesticides and herbicides, the introduction of agricultural monocultures, and the destruction of insect native habitat, are all potential contributors to this grave situation. Some researchers are working towards a future where natural insect pollinators might be replaced with free-flying robotic bees, an ecologically problematic proposal. We argue instead that creating environments that are friendly to bees and exploring the use of other species for pollination and bio-control, particularly in non-European countries, are more ecologically sound approaches. The computer simulation of insect-plant interactions is a far more measured application of technology that may assist in managing, or averting, ‘Insect Armageddon' from both practical and ethical viewpoints.

scholarly journals Plant Metabolites Involved in the Differential Development of a Heliantheae-Specialist Insect

Metabolites ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 134
Author(s):  
Marília Elias Gallon ◽  
Leonardo Gobbo-Neto
Keyword(s):  
Larval Development ◽  
Sesquiterpene Lactones ◽  
Nutritional Ecology ◽  
Plant Metabolites ◽  
Plant Insect Interactions ◽  
Tridax Procumbens ◽  
Integrative Studies ◽  
Specialist Insect ◽  
Insect Interactions ◽  
New Research

Balanced nutritional intake is essential to ensure that insects undergo adequate larval development and metamorphosis. Integrative multidisciplinary approaches have contributed valuable insights regarding the ecological and evolutionary outcomes of plant–insect interactions. To address the plant metabolites involved in the larval development of a specialist insect, we investigated the development of Chlosyne lacinia caterpillars fed on Heliantheae species (Tithonia diversifolia, Tridax procumbens and Aldama robusta) leaves and determined the chemical profile of plants and insects using a metabolomic approach. By means of LC-MS and GC-MS combined analyses, 51 metabolites were putatively identified in Heliantheae species and C. lacinia caterpillars and frass; these metabolites included flavonoids, sesquiterpene lactones, monoterpenoids, sesquiterpenoids, diterpenes, triterpenes, oxygenated terpene derivatives, steroids and lipid derivatives. The leading discriminant metabolites were diterpenes, which were detected only in A. robusta leaves and insects that were fed on this plant-based diet. Additionally, caterpillars fed on A. robusta leaves took longer to complete their development to the adult phase and exhibited a greater diapause rate. Hence, we hypothesized that diterpenes may be involved in the differential larval development. Our findings shed light on the plant metabolites that play roles in insect development and metabolism, opening new research avenues for integrative studies of insect nutritional ecology.

scholarly journals Comparative approaches to the study of physiology: Drosophila as a physiological tool

2013 ◽  
Vol 304 (3) ◽  
pp. R177-R188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendi S. Neckameyer ◽  
Kathryn J. Argue
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Pattern Formation ◽  
Signaling Pathways ◽  
Human Disease ◽  
Cognitive Disorders ◽  
Model System ◽  
Critical Questions ◽  
Developmental Signaling ◽  
Shed Light

Numerous studies have detailed the extensive conservation of developmental signaling pathways between the model system, Drosophila melanogaster, and mammalian models, but researchers have also profited from the unique and highly tractable genetic tools available in this system to address critical questions in physiology. In this review, we have described contributions that Drosophila researchers have made to mathematical dynamics of pattern formation, cardiac pathologies, the way in which pain circuits are integrated to elicit responses from sensation, as well as the ways in which gene expression can modulate diverse behaviors and shed light on human cognitive disorders. The broad and diverse array of contributions from Drosophila underscore its translational relevance to modeling human disease.

A model system for T-lymphocyte differentiation: Regulation of CD4 and CD8 gene expression in SL12.4 T-lymphoma cell clones

1991 ◽  
Vol 28 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 57-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miles F. Wilkinson ◽  
Alan M. Fong ◽  
Hong Huynh ◽  
Esther F. Hays ◽  
Carol L. MacLeod
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
T Lymphocyte ◽  
Model System ◽  
Lymphoma Cell ◽  
Lymphocyte Differentiation ◽  
Cell Clones ◽  
T Lymphoma
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