Search for: All records

Gut microbiomes profoundly influence insect health and mediate interactions between plant hosts and their environments. Insects, including aphids, harbour diverse obligate symbionts that synthesize essential nutrients and facultative symbionts that enhance host fitness in specific ecological contexts. Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is a significant cereal crop cultivated worldwide that has been negatively affected by the presence of an invasive piercing-sucking insect pest, the sugarcane aphid (SCA; Melanaphis sacchari). We previously identified SC265 and SC1345 as the resistant and susceptible sorghum lines, respectively, among the founder nested association mapping (NAM) population. Here, using these resistant and susceptible lines, we explored variations in the SCA gut microbiome when they feed on two different sorghum lines with varied resistance levels. Analyses after excluding the obligate endosymbiont Buchnera aphidicola from the dataset showed a significant difference in microbial diversity and composition between resistant and susceptible sorghum lines 7- and 14 days post aphid infestation. Our results indicate that the SCA fed on susceptible and resistant sorghum lines had Pseudomonadaceae and Rhizobiaceae, respectively, as the most abundant bacterial families. Differences in gut microbial community composition were underscored by alpha diversity metrics and beta diversity compositional analyses. These findings contribute to our understanding of the intricate interplay between plant and aphid microbiomes, shedding light on potential avenues to bolster sorghum resistance to SCA. 

ABSTRACT Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) plays a critical role in global agriculture, serving as a staple food source and contributing significantly to various industries. However, sorghum cultivation faces significant challenges, particularly from pests like the sugarcane aphid (SCA), which can cause substantial damage to crops. In this study, we investigated the role of the caffeoyl coenzyme‐AO‐methyltransferase (CCoAOMT) gene in sorghum defense against SCA. Feeding by SCA induced the expression of theSbCCoAOMTgene, which is involved in the monolignol biosynthesis pathway. Aphid no‐choice and choice bioassays revealed thatSbCCoAOMToverexpression in sorghum resulted in reduced SCA reproduction and decreased aphid settling, respectively, compared to wild‐type (RTx430) plants. Furthermore, electrical penetration graph (EPG) studies revealed thatSbCCoAOMToverexpression restricts aphid feeding from the sieve elements. SCA feeding also induced the accumulation of lignin in sorghum wild‐type andSbCCoAOMToverexpression plants. Moreover, artificial diet aphid feeding bioassays with hydroxycinnamic acids, ferulic and sinapic acids, showed direct adverse effects on SCA reproduction. Our findings highlight the potential of genetic modification to enhance sorghum resistance to SCA and emphasize the importance of lignin‐related genes in plant defense mechanisms. This study offers valuable insights into developing aphid‐resistant sorghum varieties and suggests avenues for further research on enhancing plant defenses against biotic stresses. 

Plants are attacked by multiple insect pest species and insect herbivory can alter plant defense mechanisms. The plant defense responses to a specific herbivore may also contribute to the herbivore growth/survival on plants. Feeding by one insect species can modulate the plant defenses, which can either facilitate or hamper the colonization of subsequent incoming insects. However, little is known about the effect of sequential herbivory on sorghum plants. In this study, we demonstrate that a specialist aphid, sugarcane aphid (SCA; Melanaphis sacchari ) grows faster on sorghum than a generalist aphid species, greenbug (GB; Schizaphis graminum ). We also determined how the pre-infestation of SCA on sorghum affected the invasion of GB and vice-versa . Our sequential herbivory experiments revealed that SCA reproduction was lower on GB-primed sorghum plants, however, the reverse was not true. To assess the differences in plant defenses induced by specialist vs. generalist aphids, we monitored the expression of salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) marker genes, and flavonoid biosynthetic pathway genes after 48 h of aphid infestation. The results indicated that GB infestation induced higher expression of SA and JA-related genes, and flavonoid pathway genes ( DFR , FNR , and FNSII ) compared to SCA infestation. Overall, our results suggested that GB-infested plants activate the plant defenses via phytohormones and flavonoids at early time points and hampers the colonization of incoming SCA, as well as explain the reproductive success of SCA compared to GB.