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Cytokinin levels and signaling respond to wounding and the perception of herbivore elicitors in Nicotiana attenuata.

ABSTRACT: Nearly half a century ago insect herbivores were found to induce the formation of green islands by manipulating cytokinin (CK) levels. However, the response of the CK pathway to attack by chewing insect herbivores remains unclear. Here, we characterize the CK pathway of Nicotiana attenuata (Torr. ex S. Wats.) and its response to wounding and perception of herbivore-associated molecular patterns (HAMPs). We identified 44 genes involved in CK biosynthesis, inactivation, degradation, and signaling. Leaf wounding rapidly induced transcriptional changes in multiple genes throughout the pathway, as well as in the levels of CKs, including isopentenyladenosine and cis-zeatin riboside; perception of HAMPs present in the oral secretions (OS) of the specialist herbivore Manduca sexta amplified these responses. The jasmonate pathway, which triggers many herbivore-induced processes, was not required for these HAMP-triggered changes, but rather suppressed the CK responses. Interestingly CK pathway changes were observed also in systemic leaves in response to wounding and OS application indicating a role of CKs in mediating long distance systemic processes in response to herbivory. Since wounding and grasshopper OS elicited similar accumulations of CKs in Arabidopsis thaliana L., we propose that CKs are integral components of wounding and HAMP-triggered responses in many plant species.

SUBMITTER: Schafer M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4286249 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundThe adage from Shakespeare, "troubles, not as single spies, but in battalions come," holds true for Nicotiana attenuata, which is commonly attacked by both pathogens (Pseudomonas spp.) and herbivores (Manduca sexta) in its native habitats. Defense responses targeted against the pathogens can directly or indirectly influence the responses against the herbivores. Nadefensin is an effective induced defense gene against the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato (PST DC3000), which is also elicited by attack from M. sexta larvae, but whether this defense protein influences M. sexta's growth and whether M. sexta-induced Nadefensin directly or indirectly influences PST DC3000 resistance are unknown.ResultsM. sexta larvae consumed less on WT and on Nadefensin-silenced N. attenuata plants that had previously been infected with PST DC3000 than on uninfected plants. WT plants infected with PST DC3000 showed enhanced resistance to PST DC3000 and decreased leaf consumption by M. sexta larvae, but larval mass gain was unaffected. PST DC3000-infected Nadefensin-silenced plants were less resistant to subsequent PST DC3000 challenge, and on these plants, M. sexta larvae consumed less and gained less mass. WT and Nadefensin-silenced plants previously damaged by M. sexta larvae were better able to resist subsequent PST DC3000 challenges than were undamaged plants.ConclusionThese results demonstrate that Na-defensin directly mediates defense against PST DC3000 and indirectly against M. sexta in N. attenuata. In plants that were previously infected with PST DC3000, the altered leaf chemistry in PST DC3000-resistant WT plants and PST DC3000-susceptible Nadefensin-silenced plants differentially reduced M. sexta's leaf consumption and mass gain. In plants that were previously damaged by M. sexta, the combined effect of the altered host plant chemistry and a broad spectrum of anti-herbivore induced metabolomic responses was more effective than Nadefensin alone in resisting PST DC3000.

Project description:Ecological performance is all about timing and the endogenous clock that allows the entrainment of rhythms and anticipation of fitness-determining events is being rapidly characterized. How plants anticipate daily abiotic stresses, such as cold in early mornings and drought at noon, as well as biotic stresses, such as the timing of pathogen infections, is being explored, but little is known about the clock's role in regulating responses to insect herbivores and mutualists, whose behaviors are known to be strongly diurnally regulated and whose attack is known to reconfigure plant metabolomes. We developed a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry procedure and analyzed its output with model-based peak picking algorithms to identify metabolites with diurnal accumulation patterns in sink/source leaves and roots in an unbiased manner. The response of metabolites with strong diurnal patterns to simulated attack from the specialist herbivore, Manduca sexta larvae was analyzed and annotated with in-house and public databases. Roots and leaves had largely different rhythms and only 10 ions of 182 oscillating ions in leaves and 179 oscillating ions in roots were rhythmic in both tissues: root metabolites mainly peaked at dusk or night, while leaf metabolites peaked during the day. Many oscillating metabolites showed tissue-specific regulation by simulated herbivory of which systemic responses in unattacked tissues were particularly pronounced. Diurnal and herbivory-elicited accumulation patterns of disaccharide, phenylalanine, tyrosine, lyciumoside I, coumaroyl tyramine, 12-oxophytodienoic acid and jasmonic acid and those of their related biosynthetic transcripts were examined in detail. We conclude that oscillating metabolites of N. attenuata accumulate in a highly tissue-specific manner and the patterns reveal pronounced diurnal rhythms in the generalized and specialized metabolism that mediates the plant's responses to herbivores and mutualists. We propose that diurnal regulation will prove to an important element in orchestrating a plant's responses to herbivore attack.

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Cytokinin levels and signaling respond to wounding and the perception of herbivore elicitors in Nicotiana attenuata.

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