ARS | Publication request: Hessian fly larval attack induces cell permeability in wheat

Submitted to: Plant and Animal Genome VX Conference Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: October 15, 2006
Publication Date: January 13, 2007
Citation: Subramanyam, S., Saltzmann, K.D., Shukle, J., Shukle, R.H., Williams, C.E. 2007. Hessian fly larval attack induces cell permeability in wheat. [abstract] Plant and Animal Genome VX Conference Abstracts, San Diego, CA, Jan. 13-17, 2007.

Technical Abstract: Plant defense to pest or pathogen attack involves changes in gene expression as well as various physiological changes in cell and tissue structure. The infestation of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) by Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor, Say) larvae leads to increased cell permeability within 24 hours of the attack. Cell permeability was assessed by staining wheat tissue with Neutral Red, a dye that diffuses into the cell through small pores. Though permeability increased in both, resistant as well as susceptible plants, the permeability of resistant plants was limited to the leaf harboring the larvae. In contrast,the susceptible plants showed extensive changes where younger leaves within the whorl also become permeable. Cross-sections of susceptible plants revealed that epidermal cells, vascular tissues and some of the mesophyll cells had increased permeability, whereas, in resistant plants, permeability was limited to epidermal cells. These results suggest that during early stages of attack both virulent and avirulent Hessian fly larvae change cell permeability of the host wheat plant as a mechanism for inducing the plant to deliver nutrients to the larval feeding site. The extent and degree of permeability observed in the susceptible plants suggests that a propogated signal of plant origin might be responsible for the permeability in tissues that are distant from the larval feeding site.