Wild Crop Relatives: Genomic and Breeding Resources

Mechanism of action of insecticidal secondary metabolites of plant origin

Essential oils for the development of eco-friendly mosquito larvicides: A review

Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors from plants and fungi

As a result of screening a large number of essential oils from Israeli aromatic plants and their biologically active constituents, we isolated two oils with high activity against several stored-product insects. In this study the effect of these compounds on the acetylcholinesterase and the octopamine systems in insects was studied in order to elucidate their mode of action. Inhibition of acetylcholinesterase activity in vitro was evident only at high concentrations (10(-3) M) and could not account effectively for the low-dose mortality for some stored-product insects observed in vivo. However, the essential oil constituents were found to cause a significant increase in the levels of the intracellular messenger, cyclic AMP of abdominal epidermal tissue in the model insect, Helicoverpa armigera Hubn. The effect was significant even at low, physiological concentrations (10(-8) M) when tested directly on abdominal epidermal tissue preparations in vitro. This intracellular response was found to resemble closely the significant increases in the levels of the cyclic AMP of abdominal epidermal tissue due to treatment with the neurotransmitter/neuromodulator, octopamine. Subsequent treatment with the octopaminergic antagonist, phentolamine, effectively inhibited the cyclic AMP levels induced by essential oil treatment, indicating possible competitive activation of octopaminergic receptors by essential oil constituents.

Activation of octopaminergic receptors by essential oil constituents isolated from aromatic plants: possible mode of action against insect pests.

The theory of plant-insect coevolution provides for diffuse coevolution and the expectation that plants evolve broad-spectrum chemical defenses with which some insects coevolve by detoxifying and using the compounds as host-location cues. Specific biochemical modes of action have been assigned to relatively few such defense chemicals and one major class, the terpenoids, is investigated here. Six terpenoids inhibited the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (derived from electric eel) and elicited the appropriate in vivo effects of insect paralysis and mortality. The diterpene gossypol was a reversible uncompetitive inhibitor. Five monoterpenes, representing a range of functional groups, were reversible competitive inhibitors apparently occupying at least the hydrophobic site of the enzyme's active center. Such data suggest the involvement of acetylcholinesterase in the coevolved insect response to terpenoids.

Plant-insect coevolution and inhibition of acetylcholinesterase.

Interspecific populations derived from crossing cultivated field pea, Pisum sativum, with the wild pea relative, Pisum fulvum, were scored for pod and seed injury caused by the pea weevil, Bruchus pisorum. Pod resistance was quantitatively inherited in the F2 population, with evidence of transgressive segregation. Heritability of pod resistance between F2 and F3 generations was very low, suggesting that this trait would be difficult to transfer in a breeding program. Seed resistance was determined for the F2 population by testing F3 seed tissues of individual F2 plants and pooling data from seed reaction for each F2 plant (inferred F2 genotype). Segregation for seed resistance in the F2 population of the cross Pennant/ATC113 showed a trigenic mode of inheritance, with additive effects and dominant epistasis towards susceptibility. Seed resistance was conserved over consecutive generations (F2 to F5) and successfully transferred to a new population by backcross introgression. Seed resistance in the backcross introgressed population segregated in a 63 : 1 ratio, supporting the three-gene inheritance model. It is proposed that complete resistance to pea weevil is controlled by three major recessive alleles assigned pwr1, pwr2, and pwr3, and complete susceptibility by three major dominant alleles assigned PWR1, PWR2, and PWR3. It is recommended that large populations (>300 F2 plants) would be required to effectively transfer these recessive alleles to current field pea cultivars through hybridisation and repeated backcrossing.

Genetic analysis of pod and seed resistance to pea weevil in a Pisum sativum x P. fulvum interspecific cross

The pea weevil, Bruchus pisorum, is one of the most intractable pest problems of cultivated field pea (Pisum sativum) in the world. Pesticide application, either as a contact insecticide spray to the field pea crop or fumigation of the harvested seed, is the only available method for its control. The aim of the study was to develop a quick and reliable method to screen for pea weevil resistance and increase efficiency in breeding for this important trait. Backcrossed progenies derived from an interspecific cross between cultivated field pea and its wild relative (Pisum fulvum, source of resistance for pea weevil) were subjected to natural infestation in field plots. Mature seeds were hand-harvested, stored to allow development of adult beetles, and then separated into infested and non-infested using a density separation method in 30% caesium chloride (CsCl). Susceptibility and resistance of the progenies were calculated based on this method and further confirmed by a glasshouse bioassay. Resistance in backcross populations improved considerably through selection of resistant lines using the density separation method. We found that the method using CsCl separation is a useful tool in breeding for pea weevil resistance. We were able to introgress pea weevil resistance from P. fulvum into cultivated field pea through backcrossing to produce several advanced pea weevil resistant lines following this procedure.

https://bioone.org/journals/Crop-and-Pasture-Science/volume-63/issue-7/CP12225/Large-scale-density-based-screening-for-pea-weevil-resistance-in/10.1071/CP12225.pdf

Large-scale density-based screening for pea weevil resistance in advanced backcross lines derived from cultivated field pea (Pisum sativum) and Pisum fulvum

Pea weevil, Bruchus pisorum, is one of the limiting factors for field pea (Pisum sativum) cultivation in the world with pesticide application the only available method for its control. Resistance to pea weevil has been found in an accession of Pisum fulvum but transfer of this resistance to cultivated pea (P. sativum) is limited due to a lack of easy-to-use techniques for screening interspecific breeding populations. To address this problem, an interspecific population was created from a cross between cultivated field pea and P. fulvum (resistance source). Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping was performed to discover the regions associated with resistance to cotyledon, pod wall/seed coat and pod wall resistance. Three major QTLs, located on linkage groups LG2, LG4 and LG5 were found for cotyledon resistance explaining approximately 80 % of the phenotypic variation. Two major QTLs were found for pod wall/seed coat resistance on LG2 and LG5 explaining approximately 70 % of the phenotypic variation. Co-linearity of QTLs for cotyledon and pod wall/seed coat resistance suggested that the mechanism of resistance for these two traits might act through the same pathways. Only one QTL was found for pod wall resistance on LG7 explaining approximately 9 % of the phenotypic variation. This is the first report on the development of QTL markers to probe Pisum germplasm for pea weevil resistance genes. These flanking markers will be useful in accelerating the process of screening when breeding for pea weevil resistance.

Identification of genome regions controlling cotyledon, pod wall/seed coat and pod wall resistance to pea weevil through QTL mapping

The pea weevil (Bruchus pisorum L.) is the most significant pest of field pea (Pisum sativum L.) in Australia. The only available means for controlling pea weevil at the present time is with chemical pesticides. The aim of this study was to introgress natural pea weevil resistance, derived from the wild pea species, Pisum fulvum Sibth. & Sm. into cultivated field pea and devise strategies for screening for the resistance with breeding applications. Traditional breeding methods were used to transfer pea weevil resistance from P. fulvum accession ‘ATC113’ to cultivated field pea, cv. ‘Pennant’. Progeny derived from this population were examined for inheritance of pod and seed resistance. Seed resistance in F2 plants segregated in a ratio of 1:37:26 (resistant: mixed response: susceptible), indicating a trigenic mode of inheritance (1:63), with at least three major recessive genes controlling pea weevil resistance. Seed resistance was conserved over consecutive generations (F2 to F5) and was successfully transferred to populations crossed with a second adapted field pea variety‘Helena’. Pod resistance presented as a quantitative trait in the F2 population, but this resistance was not retained in subsequent generations. Amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) were sought in the parents and in resistant and susceptible F3 plants. Restricted maximum likelihood (REML) analysis was used to identify 13 AFLP markers with a statistically significant association with pea weevil resistance and 23 with pea weevil susceptibility. Principal coordinate analysis (PCO) showed that the AFLP marker loci formed clusters in the PCO space, which could indicate the three proposed gene locations. Eight AFLP markers were cloned, sequenced and converted to sequence characterised amplified regions (SCAR). Two SCAR markers, SC47359 and SC47435 were polymorphic between the resistant and susceptible parents. Both markers co-segregated with the resistant lines and with 30-36% of susceptible lines. Plants which did not possess either band were highly susceptible. The other PCR products were either monomorphic between the resistant and susceptible parents or produced more than one band product. A range of phenotypic traits was measured in the F2 population derived from the hybridisation between P. fulvum and P. sativum and associations with pea weevil resistance were made. In the F2 population, pea weevil resistance was not correlated with any of the negative traits originating from the wild parent, such as increased basal branching, dark seed coat or small seed size, neither was resistance correlated with flower colour, flowering time or seeds per pod. Pea weevil resistance should therefore be transferable with minimal linkage drag. A convenient morphological marker, such as flower or seed colour was not identified in this study based on these results. Using principal component analysis (PCA) as a visual tool, resistant and semi-resistant plants in the F3 and ‘backcross’ introgression…

Oonagh Byrne

Papers

Plant-insect coevolution and inhibition of acetylcholinesterase.

Genetic analysis of pod and seed resistance to pea weevil in a Pisum sativum x P. fulvum interspecific cross

Large-scale density-based screening for pea weevil resistance in advanced backcross lines derived from cultivated field pea (Pisum sativum) and Pisum fulvum

Identification of genome regions controlling cotyledon, pod wall/seed coat and pod wall resistance to pea weevil through QTL mapping

Incorporation of pea weevil resistance from wild pea (Pisum fulvum) into cultivated field pea (Pisum sativum)