β-Glucosidase treatment and infestation by the rice brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens elicit similar signaling pathways in rice plants

β-Glucosidase has been reported to induce the production of herbivore-induced plant volatiles. How-ever, how it works remains unclear. Here, we investigated the levels of salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), ethylene, and H2O2, all of which are known signaling molecules that play important roles in in-duced plant defense in rice plants treated with β-glucosidase, and compared these to levels in plants infested by the rice brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens (Stl). Results showed that wounding and treatment by β-glucosidase increased the levels of SA, ethylene, and H2O2, but not JA, in all plants compared to control plants. The signaling pathways activated by β-glucosidase treatment are similar to those activated by an infestation by N. lugens, although the magnitude and timing of the signals elicited by the two treatments are different. This may explain why both treatments have similar volatile profiles and are equally attractive to the parasitoid Anagrus nilaparvatae Pang et Wang.     

Role of ethylene signaling in the production of rice volatiles induced by the rice brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens

In response to herbivory, plants release volatiles to attract the natural enemies of herbivores[1,2]. This phe- nomenon has been reported in more than 23 plant spe- cies[3―6], and several field studies have shown that these herbivore-induced volatiles en…     

Salicylic acid and ethylene signaling pathways are involved in production of rice trypsin proteinase inhibitors induced by the leaf folder Cnaphalocrocis medinalis （Guenee）

The roles of signaling pathways in the production of trypsin proteinase inhibitors (TrypPIs) in rice infested by the leaf folder (LF) Cnaphalocrocis medinalis were studied. Infestation by LF increased TrypPI levels in the leaves of rice plants at the tillering, booting and flowering stages but decreased TrypPI levels at the ripening stage; TrypPI levels in rice stems did not increase at any developmental stage. Infestation by LF at the tillering stage systemically increased TrypPI levels in leaves but not in stems; it also enhanced salicylic acid (SA) levels in leaves and stems, and the ethylene level released from plants. However, LF infestation did not increase JA concentrations. Exogenous application of SA or ethylene enhanced TrypPI levels in the leaves and stems of plants at the tillering stage, whereas treatment with both SA and ethylene induced lower levels of TrypPIs than treatment with SA or ethylene alone, suggesting an antagonistic effect of SA and ethylene on TrypPIs induction. The results suggest that both SA and ethylene signaling pathways are involved in the production of TrypPIs in rice induced by LF; moreover, the antagonistic effect of SA and ethylene may explain the changes in TrypPI levels seen at different plant developmental stages and in different organs.     

In situ localization of proteinase inhibitor mRNA in rice plant challenged by brown planthopper

Proteinase inhibitor (PI) mRNA was localized by in situ hybridization in tissue sections of root, stem and leaf of the resistant rice (B5) plant fed by brown planthopper nymphs. In the rice material without BPH feeding, PI gene was expressed in the root, stem and leaf, while the abundance of PI mRNA was low. In the rice material fed by BPH,PI gene was expressed substantially in the parenchyma of rice stem and leaf, but weakly in the root. The results indicated that the PI gene was up-regulated in the rice plant challenged by brown planthopper. For the first time, we reported the expression changes of proteinase inhibitor gene in plant which was infested by a piercing/sucking insect.     

Experimental validation of inter-subspecific genetic diversity in rice represented by the differences between the DNA sequences of ＇Nipponbare＇ and ＇93-11＇

The pedigrees of three sequenced rice cultivars were analyzed to show that a majority of the genetic composition of ＇Nipponbare＇ originates from japonica cultivars while the minority originates from indica cultivars. In contrast, ＇93-11＇ is derived mainly from indica cultivars with a smaller contribution from japonica cultivars. All ancestors of ＇Guang lu ai 4＇ appeared to be indica lines. A set of molecular markers （46 InDels and 53 SSRs） polymorphic between ＇Nipponbare＇ and ＇93-11＇ were examined in 46 typical indica and 47 typical japonica cultivars selected from 443 accessions according to Cheng＇s index. All cultivars were divided into indica and japonica groups without overlapping when clustered by Cheng＇s index, InDels and SSRs. Much higher InDel and SSR diversity between groups than within groups implies that the marker polymorphisms between ＇Nipponbare＇ and ＇93-11＇ represent a large proportion of inter-subspecific diversity. About 85% of indica cultivars and more than 90% of japonica cultivars were confirmed to have the same PCR banding patterns as ＇93-11＇ and ＇Nipponbare＇, respectively. Some polymorphic loci between ＇Nipponbare＇ and ＇93-11＇ cannot be validated in other indica and japonica cultivars, either as subspecies-specific but not predominant alleles, or alleles not specific between the two groups. It was concluded that molecular markers developed from sequence polymorphism between ＇Nipponbare＇ and ＇93-11＇ often represent inter-subspecific diversity, although some exceptions were sensitive to either particular marker loci or particular cultivars.     

Identification of a novel tillering dwarf mutant and fine mapping of the TDDL（T） gene in rice （Oryza sativa L.）

Rice plant architecture is an important agronomic trait that affects the grain yield. To understand the molecular mechanism that controls plant architecture, a tillering dwarf mutant with darker-green leaves derived from an indica cultivar IR64 treated with EMS is characterized. The mutant, designated as tddl（t）, is nonallelic to the known tiilering dwarf mutants. It is controlled by one recessive nuclear gene, TDDL（T）, and grouped into the dn-type dwarfism according to Takeda＇s definition. The dwarfism of the mutant is independent of gibberellic acid based on the analyses of two GA-mediated processes. The independence of brassinosteroid （BR） and naphthal-3-acetic acid （NAA） of the tddl（t） mutant, together with the decreased size of parenchyma cells in the vascular bundle, indicates that the TDDL（7） gene might participate in another hormone pathway. TDDL（T） is fine mapped within an 85.51 kb region on the long arm of rice chromosome 4, where 20 ORFs are predicted by RiceGAAS （http：//ricegaas.dna.affrc. go.jp/rgadb/）. Further cloning of TDDL（T） will benefit both marker assisted selection （MAS） of plant architecture and dissection of the molecular mechanism underlying tillering dwarf in rice.