Volatile DMNT directly protects plants against Plutella xylostella by disrupting the peritrophic matrix barrier in insect midgut
Chen Chen,
Hongyi Chen,
Shijie Huang,
Taoshan Jiang,
Chuanhong Wang,
Zhen Tao,
Chen He,
Qingfeng Tang,
Peijin Li
Affiliations
Chen Chen
The National Key Engineering Lab of Crop Stress Resistance Breeding, the School of Life Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China
Hongyi Chen
The National Key Engineering Lab of Crop Stress Resistance Breeding, the School of Life Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China
Shijie Huang
The National Key Engineering Lab of Crop Stress Resistance Breeding, the School of Life Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China
Taoshan Jiang
The National Key Engineering Lab of Crop Stress Resistance Breeding, the School of Life Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China
Chuanhong Wang
The National Key Engineering Lab of Crop Stress Resistance Breeding, the School of Life Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China
Zhen Tao
The National Key Engineering Lab of Crop Stress Resistance Breeding, the School of Life Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China
Chen He
The National Key Engineering Lab of Crop Stress Resistance Breeding, the School of Life Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China
Qingfeng Tang
Key Laboratory of Biology and Sustainable Management of Plant Diseases and Pests of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, the School of Plant Protection, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China
Insect pests negatively affect crop quality and yield; identifying new methods to protect crops against insects therefore has important agricultural applications. Our analysis of transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants showed that overexpression of pentacyclic triterpene synthase 1, encoding the key biosynthetic enzyme for the natural plant product (3E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene (DMNT), led to a significant resistance against a major insect pest, Plutella xylostella. DMNT treatment severely damaged the peritrophic matrix (PM), a physical barrier isolating food and pathogens from the midgut wall cells. DMNT repressed the expression of PxMucin in midgut cells, and knocking down PxMucin resulted in PM rupture and P. xylostella death. A 16S RNA survey revealed that DMNT significantly disrupted midgut microbiota populations and that midgut microbes were essential for DMNT-induced killing. Therefore, we propose that the midgut microbiota assists DMNT in killing P. xylostella. These findings may provide a novel approach for plant protection against P. xylostella.