Drought stress is a serious problem worldwide that reduces crop productivity. The laser has been shown to play a positive physiological role in enhancing plant seedlings tolerance to various abiotic stresses. However, little information is available about the molecular mechanism of He-Ne laser irradiation induced physiological changes for wheat adapting to drought conditions. Here, we performed a large-scale transcriptome sequencing to determine the molecular roles of He-Ne laser pretreated wheat seedlings under drought stress. There were 98.822 transcripts identified, and, among them, 820 transcripts were found to be differentially expressed in He-Ne laser pretreated wheat seedlings under drought stress compared with drought stress alone. Furthermore, most representative transcripts related to photosynthesis, nutrient uptake and transport, homeostasis control of reactive oxygen species and transcriptional regulation were expressed predominantly in He-Ne laser pretreated wheat seedlings. Thus, the up-regulated physiological processes of photosynthesis, antioxidation and osmotic accumulation because of the modified expressions of the related genes could contribute to the enhanced drought tolerance induced by He-Ne laser pretreatment. These findings will expand our understanding of the complex molecular events associated with drought tolerance conferred by laser irradiation in wheat and provide abundant genetic resources for future studies on plant adaptability to environmental stresses.
Encarsia formosa Gahan is an important endoparasitoid of the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci Gennadius. In the present study, we compared the fitness and population parameters of E. formosa when parasitizing the two most invasive and destructive whitefly species in China, the B and Q of B. tabaci. We also studied whether natal host influenced on parasitism and host-feeding capacities of E. formosa on B. tabaci B versus Q. Age–stage life table analysis indicated that E. formosa developmental duration was shorter, fecundity was higher, and longevity was greater on B. tabaci B than on Q. The life table parameters, including the intrinsic rate of increase (r), finite rate of increase (λ), net reproduction rate (R0), and the mean generation time (T), indicated that the fitness of E. formosa on B. tabaci B is higher than B. tabaci Q. We also found that the host species used to rear E. formosa affected the parasitoid’s subsequent parasitism and host feeding on B. tabaci B and Q. When E. formosa were reared on B. tabaci B, its subsequent parasitism rate on third-instar nymphs was significantly higher on B. tabaci B than on Q. These results will be useful for managing the biological control of B. tabaci in the field.
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