ARS | Publication request: FEEDING OF HESSIAN FLY LARVAE ON RESISTANT WHEAT INDUCES A GENE HOMOLOGOUS TO A WHEAT GENE ACTIVATED BY THE SAR-INDUCING CHEMICAL, BTH

Submitted to: Wheat Genetics International Symposium Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: August 2, 1998
Publication Date: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Little is known about the chemical nature of interactions between the wheat plant and Hessian fly larvae. In similar plant/pathogen interactions, resistant plants are able to detect the pathogen and activate defense genes. We have cloned a gene, Whi-1 (wheat hessian fly induced) that is activated, in resistant but not in susceptible plants, soon after Hessian fly larvae begin to feed. This gene is similar to another wheat gene that may be involved in resistance to fungal pathogens. This gene may be of benefit to researchers seeking to engineer plants with insect resistance.

Technical Abstract: A partial cDNA clone was identified that is induced within 22 hr of the initiation of feeding by avirulent Hessian fly larvae on resistant wheat seedlings. Maximal induction was reached at about four days and decreased until about 10 days. The gene was expressed at a constant low level in uninfested plants as well as those infested with virulent larvae. Sequence analysis of the 581 bp clone revealed 80% similarity to WCl-1, a wheat gene that is activated when plants are treated with BTH (benzothiadiazole). BTH induces resistance to several fungal pathogens of wheat and is known to induce systemic acquired resistance (SAR) in tobacco and Arabidopsis.