DL-β-Aminobutyric Acid-Induced Resistance in Soybean against Aphis glycines Matsumura (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

Abstract

Priming can improve plant innate capability to deal with the stresses caused by both biotic and abiotic factors. In this study, the effect of DL-β-amino-n-butyric acid (BABA) against Aphis glycines Matsumura, the soybean aphid (SA) was evaluated. We found that 25 mM BABA as a root drench had minimal adverse impact on plant growth and also efficiently protected soybean from SA infestation. In both choice and non-choice tests, SA number was significantly decreased to a low level in soybean seedlings drenched with 25 mM BABA compared to the control counterparts. BABA treatment resulted in a significant increase in the activities of several defense enzymes, such as phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), peroxidase (POX), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), chitinase (CHI), and β-1, 3-glucanase (GLU) in soybean seedlings attacked by aphid. Meanwhile, the induction of 15 defense-related genes by aphid, such as AOS, CHS, MMP2, NPR1-1, NPR1-2, and PR genes, were significantly augmented in BABA-treated soybean seedlings. Our study suggest that BABA application is a promising way to enhance soybean resistance against SA.

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

“…Different letters indicate significant differences between curves (pairwise log-rank post hoc tests with Bonferroni correction, p < 0.05) Plymale et al 2007). The same pattern was also reported for some other inducers as cis-jasmone (Moraes et al 2008) and BABA (Zhong et al 2014).…”

BABA application improves soybean resistance to aphid through activation of phenylpropanoid metabolism and callose deposition

“…Additionally, peroxidase catalyzes the last step of lignin biosynthesis, which plays an important role in the defense mechanism of plant hosts . Previous studies showed that BABA treatment stimulated lignin synthesis and PAL and POD activities in plant defense against pathogens and soybean aphid . Microbial products also enhanced lignin accumulation and activated the transcription of some related genes in Arabidopsis leaves, such as PAL , C4H , 4CL and CAD .…”

“…When the first trifoliolate fully expanded (V1 growth stage), 25 mL BABA–water solution (25 m m ) was applied until the substrate was drenched. This concentration was considered to be appropriate for priming soybean plants . For the control, 25 mL of water was applied.…”

“…A recent study showed that soybean treated with 25 m m BABA acquired enhanced resistance against SBA . To understand the mechanisms underlying this process, in this study, isoflavone contents were measured in BABA‐IR against SBA according to a previous study .…”

“…Soybean aphid infestation causes significant yield losses and therefore increased production costs annually in many parts of the USA soybean belt . A previous study showed that the utilization of appropriate concentrations of BABA effectively enhanced resistance against soybean aphid and caused negligible influence to soybean development . Therefore, BABA application may constitute a promising and environmentally friendly method to protect soybean from aphid attack.…”