Transcriptomic characterization and analysis of key biological pathways associated with aphid resistance in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench)

FEI ZHANGѲ; FULAI KEѲ; JIAXU WANG; KUANGYE ZHANG; YOUHOU DUAN; HNA WU; JIANQIU ZOU; FENG LU; YANQIU WANG; ZHIPENG ZHANG; KAI ZHU

doi:10.30848/PJB2022-5(2)

Aphid damage is one of the most critical biotic stresses limiting sorghum production, worldwide. In this study, two sterile sorghum lines having aphid-resistant (APT) and aphid-sensitive (APS) phenotypes, along with eight hybrid lines were used to study the infestation and natural attack rates of aphids in three ecological zones. The results show that sorghum has a dominant genetic effect on aphid resistance, with aphid incidence ranging from 93.2% to 96.6% in the F1 generation of crosses mated to APT sorghum sterile lines. APT vs APS transcriptome analysis suggested the ATP sorghum genotype may be able to stimulate defenses against aphid infestation, experienced less change in sugar and chlorophyll content than the APS genotype. The APT genotype also exhibited improved in vivo carbohydrate binding and endopeptidase inhibitor activity, which are two key biological metabolic pathways which are involved in inhibiting aphid feeding and growth, by converting glucose in organs to pyruvate in the cytoplasm via the glycolysis metabolic pathway, thereby reducing glucose content in tissues and creating an inhospitable environment for aphid growth.