Download Potato virus Y infection affects biotic stress signalling in potato and

Potato virus Y infection affects biotic stress signalling in potato and promotes growth of Colorado
potato beetle
M. PETEK1, A. ROTTER1, P. KOGOVŠEK1, A. MITHÖFER2, K, GRUDEN1,3
National Institute of Biology, Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, Večna pot 111, 1000
Ljubljana, Slovenia
1
2
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Beutenberg Campus,
Hans-Knöll-Str. 8, 07745 Jena, Germany
Jožef Stefan Institute, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana,
Slovenia
3
Potato virus Y (PVY) and Colorado potato beetle (CPB) cause severe damage in potato production.
Attacked plants trigger a diverse defence response including biotic stress signalling, defence protein and
metabolite production, primary metabolism changes and may influence the emission of volatile organic
compounds which play crucial signalling roles in multiway interactions.
We studied the response of potato plants to CPB infestation in PVY infected and healthy plants.
Transcriptional responses in attacked leaves were examined by quantitative PCR (qPCR) and plant’s
volatile emissions were profiled by GC-MS. To elucidate the impact of jasmonic acid signalling on plant-pest
interactions the transgenic plants with silenced jasmonate receptor were examined. Additionally, the
adaptive response of CPB to plant defences was studied by larval feeding on either healthy or PVY-infected
potato plants by measuring larval growth and gene expression levels in the gut tissue using next generation
sequencing (NGS) and qPCR.
PVY infection attenuated plant’s response to CPB attack and positively affected larval growth. PVY’s impact
on volatile emission was however small compared to the impact of CPB infestation. Transcriptional changes
in the larval guts revealed new insights into mechanisms that allow CPB larvae to adapt to potato plant
defences.