Deciphering the Mechanism of β-Aminobutyric Acid-Induced Resistance in Wheat to the Grain Aphid, Sitobion avenae

Abstract

The non-protein amino acid β-aminobutyric acid (BABA) can induce plant resistance to a broad spectrum of biotic and abiotic stresses. However, BABA-induced plant resistance to insects is less well-studied, especially its underlying mechanism. In this research, we applied BABA to wheat seedlings and tested its effects on Sitobion avenae (F.). When applied as a soil drench, BABA significantly reduced weights of S. avenae, whereas foliar spray and seed treatment had no such effects. BABA-mediated suppression of S. avenae growth was dose dependent and lasted at least for 7 days. The aminobutyric acid concentration in phloem sap of BABA-treated plants was higher and increased with BABA concentrations applied. Moreover, after 10 days of treatment, the aminobutyric acid content in BABA-treated plants was still higher than that in control treatment. Sitobion avenae could not discriminate artificial diet containing BABA from standard diet, indicating that BABA itself is not a deterrent to this aphid. Also S. avenae did not show preference for control plants or BABA-treated plants. Consistent with choice test results, S. avenae had similar feeding activities on control and BABA-treated plants, suggesting that BABA did not induce antifeedants in wheat seedlings. In addition, aminobutyric acid concentration in S. avenae feeding on BABA-treated plants was significantly higher than those feeding on control plants. Sitobion avenae growth rate was reduced on the artificial diet containing BABA, indicating that BABA had direct toxic effects on this aphid species. These results suggest that BABA application reduced S. avenae performance on wheat seedlings and the mechanism is possibly due to direct toxicity of high BABA contents in plant phloem.

Tomato treatment with chemical inducers reduces the performance of Spodoptera littoralis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

“…Consistent with our findings, no appreciable influences on herbivores mortality were reported upon applying the studied inducers (Plymale et al 2007;Uefune et al 2013). Similar to our laboratory bioassay, Cao et al (2014) recently found that Sitobion avenae (F.) could not discriminate an artificial diet containing BABA from the standard diet, indicating that BABA itself is not a deterrent to this aphid, which evidences that the poor performance of herbivores upon inducer treatment is due to the activation of an elicitor-induced plant defense.…”

DL‐β‐Aminobutyric acid application negatively affects reproduction and larval development of the rosy apple aphid, Dysaphis plantaginea, on apple

“…Ten days after treatment, Cao et al. () still observed the presence of BABA in wheat phloem sap. Hodge et al.…”

“…BABA treatment on citrus reduced the infestation of the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Tiwari et al., ). BABA effectively protected soybean from Aphis glycines Matsumura infestation (Zhong et al., ) and BABA application on wheat seedlings reduced weight of the grain aphid, Sitobion avenae (Fabricius) (Cao et al., ). In some cases, the observed reduced infestation was correlated with the priming of plant defences (Tiwari et al., ; Zhong et al., ).…”

“…However, Cao et al. () suggested a direct toxic effect of BABA due to its accumulation in plant phloem and its ingestion by S. avenae .…”

Effect of Compost Extract Fortified with Tempe on Chili Mosaic Virus Disease

“…When applied on citrus, BABA was reported to citrus resistance to the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri (Tiwari et al, 2013). Cao et al (2014) suggested that mechanism of BABA-induced resistance in wheat to the grain aphid, Sitobion avenae is associated with direct toxicity of high BABA contents in plant phloem. Further study was needed to determine the role of amino acids contents in aphid suppression of the compost extract.…”