Both farnesyl diphosphate synthase genes are involved in the production of alarm pheromone in the green peach aphid Myzus persicae

Abstract

Farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FPPS) catalyzes the formation of FPP, providing the precursor for the biosynthesis of (E)-βfarnesene (EβF) in plants, but it is unknown if FPPS supplies the precursor for the biosynthesis of EβF, the major component of aphid alarm pheromone, though our previous studies support the hypothesis that EβF is synthesized by the aphid itself. Here, we used two cohorts of the green peach aphid Myzus persicae separately, reared on pepper plant and artificial diet to test the correlations among droplet emission, EβF quantity, and FPPS gene expression. It was found that the proportion of aphids emitting cornicle droplets and the quantity of EβF per milligram of aphid were both significantly different between the two cohorts, which were positively correlated with the expression of the two FPPS genes (MpFPPS1/2) in M. persicae. These results were further confirmed by RNAi-mediated knockdown of MpFPPS1/2. Specifically, knockdown of MpFPPS1/2 imposed no significant cost on the survival of aphid but remarkably increased the number of offspring per aphid; most importantly, knockdown of MpFPPS1/2 significantly reduced the proportion of aphids emitting droplets and the quantity of EβF calculated as per the weight of aphid. Our results suggest that both FPPS genes are involved in the production of EβF in M. persicae and cornicle droplet emission is closely associated with the EβF release in the aphid. K E Y W O R D S (E)-β-farnesene, farnesyl diphosphate synthase, Myzus persicae, RNAi Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 2019;100:e21530.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/arch

Densovirus infection facilitates plant–virus transmission by an aphid

“…Interestingly, MpnDV infection increased the titer of EβF significantly. MpFPPS genes were shown to be related to the titer of EβF in the green peach aphid (Cheng & Li, 2019). MpnDV infection up‐regulated the expression level of the MpFPPS1 gene significantly, suggesting MpnDV infection enhanced the titer of EβF in M. persicae by up‐regulation of the gene.…”

“…The samples were prepared as described previously (Cheng & Li, 2019). Briefly, the MpnDV‐infected or MpnDV‐free wingless adults (1‐d‐old) were collected and weighed in a 1.5‐ml centrifuge tube ( n = 20) and then comprehensively ground under liquid nitrogen, followed by immediately added to 200 μl hexane.…”

“…Specific primers were employed to prepare templates to express dsRNA that showed the best knockdown effect against MpFPPS1 in a previous study (Cheng & Li, 2019). A green fluorescent protein (GFP) fragment was amplified as a dsRNA negative control as described previously (Cheng & Li, 2019). The EcoRI/KpnI and BamHI/XbaI restriction sites were added to each primer pair, respectively.…”

“…MpFPPS1 gene silencing using plant-mediated RNAi Specific primers were employed to prepare templates to express dsRNA that showed the best knockdown effect against MpFPPS1 in a previous study (Cheng & Li, 2019). A green fluorescent protein (GFP) fragment was amplified as a dsRNA negative control as described previously (Cheng & Li, 2019). The EcoRI/KpnI and BamHI/XbaI restriction sites were added to each primer pair, respectively.…”

Establishment and validation of a callus tissue transformation system for German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.)

“…To date, FPS has been successfully cloned and studied in various plants. For instance, Chen performed knockdown of FPS genes by using the RNAi technique, and the results showed that the FPS genes are involved in the production of EβF [15]. Closa et al performed knockdown experiments and found that, when FPS is not expressed, embryos appear stalled during early development in Arabidopsis and cause damage to gene inheritance; this suggests that FPS has a critically important effect on Arabidopsis growth and development [16].…”