Abstract
The whitefly
(Bemisia tabaci) causes tremendous damage to cotton production
worldwide. However, very limited information is available about how plants
perceive and defend themselves from this destructive pest. In this study, the
transcriptomics differences between two cotton cultivars
that exhibit either strong resistance (HR) or sensitivity (ZS) to whitefly were
compared at different time points (0, 12, 24, and 48 hr after infection) using
RNA-Seq. Approximately one billion paired-end reads were obtained by Illumina
sequencing technology. Gene ontology
and KEGG pathwayanalysis indicated that the cotton transcriptional response to whitefly infestation involves genes
encoding protein kinases, transcription factors, metabolite synthesis, and
phytohormone signaling. Further, a weighted gene co-expression network
constructed from RNA-Seq datasets showed that WRKY40 and copper transport
protein are hub genes that may regulate cotton defenses
to whitefly infestation. Silencing GhMPK3 by virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) resulted in
suppression of the MPK-WRKY-JA and ET pathways and lead to enhanced whitefly
susceptibility, suggesting that the candidate insect resistant genes identified
in this RNA-Seq analysis are
credible and offer significant utility. Taken together, this study provides comprehensive insights into the cotton defense system to whitefly infestation
and has identified several candidate genes for control of phloem-feeding pests.
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
PMID:26923339 （IF=6.1）
doi:
10.1111/pbi.12554.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26923339