In this review, plant-insect interaction is discussed as a dynamic system, subjected to continual variation and change. Plants developed different mechanisms to reduce insect attack, including specific responses that activate different metabolic pathways which considerably alter their chemical and physical aspects. On the other hand, insects developed several strategies to overcome plant defense barriers, allowing them to feed, grow and reproduce on their host plants. This review foccuses on several aspects of this complex interaction between plants and insects, including chemical-derived substances, protein-derived molecules and volatile compounds of plants whereas metabolization, sequestration or avoidance are in turn employed by the insects.
Sugarcane is a proven biofuel feedstock and accounts for about 40% of the biofuel production worldwide. It has a more favorable energy input/output ratio than that of corn, the other major biofuel feedstock. The rich resource of genetic diversity and the plasticity of autopolyploid genomes offer a wealth of opportunities for the application of genomics and technologies to address fundamental questions in sugarcane towards maximizing biomass production. In a workshop on sugarcane engineering held at Rutgers University, we identified research areas and emerging technologies that could have significant impact on sugarcane improvement. Traditional plant physiological studies and standardized phenotypic characterization of sugarcane are essential for dissecting the developmental processes and patterns of gene expression in this complex polyploid species. Breeder friendly DNA markers associated with target traits will enhance selection efficiency and shorten the long breeding cycles. Integration of cold tolerance from Saccharum spontaneum and Miscanthus has the potential to expand the geographical range of sugarcane production from tropical and subtropical regions to temperate zones. The Flex-stock and mix-stock concepts could be solutions for sustaining local biorefineries where no single biofuel feedstock could provide consistent year-round supplies. The ever increasing capacities of genomics and biotechnologies pave the way for fully exploring these potentials to optimize sugarcane for biofuel production. It is inevitable that fossil fuel will be replaced by renewable biofuels and other alternative energy sources. Global demand for biofuel as a clean renewable energy source is rising rapidly. By 2017, the US alone will need 135 billion liters of renewable fuels as a goal set by the 20 in 10 program (reduce gasoline usage by 20% in 10 years) in 2007. The current total global production of renewable fuels is 50 billion liters a year, about 40% of which comes from sugarcane that is mostly produced by Brazil. Recent investments from public and the private sectors worldwide in biofuel research have brought sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) to the forefront as the most productive first generation energy crop. However, there Correspondence: Eric Lam,
One approach that can be employed in integrated pest management is the use of proteins with antinutritional effects on insect metabolism and development. The antimetabolic properties of soybean proteinase inhibitor (SPI) on growth of neonate larvae of the sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis (Fabricius, 1794) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) have been evaluated. When incorporated into an artificial diet at 0.5% (w/w), SPI retarded growth rate and development of larvae when compared with larvae fed on artificial diet alone. However, larval survival was not significantly affected. The purpose of our research was to calculate demographic statistics for the sugarcane borer reared on diet either with or without semi-purified extract of SPI. Net reproductive rate (R 0 ), instantaneous rate of increase (r m ), combined age-specific survivorship (l x ) and age specific fecundity (m x ) provide information about population growth potential. These parameters were measured in order to determine the effects of the proteinase inhibitor on the insect's population dynamics. The observed differences would potentially translate into large reductions in population growth, indicating a potential value of using SPI for protecting sugarcane plants against damage by the sugarcane borer.
Deciphering plant-insect interactions at the molecular level is one of the major topics of interest in contemporary plant biology research. In the last few years, various aspects of the plant response to insect damage have been investigated, including the characterization of direct and indirect responses, the regulation of gene expression resulting from insect attack and the signal transduction pathways. Such research has resulted in the proposal of new methods to enhance host resistance to insect pests, including the use of insecticidal genes that can be transferred by genetic engineering into target crops. By integrating the understanding of how plants react to insect damage with the techniques of molecular biology researchers should be able to increase the wide range of methods available for the control of insect pests. The sugarcane transcriptome project (SUCEST) has allowed the identification of several orthologues genes involved in the plant response to insect damage. In this paper we summarize several aspects of the complex interaction between plants and insects and describe the use of in silico analysis to provide information about gene expression in different sugarcane tissues in response to insect attack.
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