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Comparative transcriptome analyses provide novel insights into the differential response of Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.) and its wild relative (Cajanus platycarpus (Benth.) Maesen) to herbivory by Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner)

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Key message

Deeper insights into the resistance response of Cajanus platycarpus were obtained based on comparative transcriptomics under Helicoverpa armigera infestation.

Abstract

Devastation by pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera is one of the major factors for stagnated productivity in Pigeonpea. Despite possessing a multitude of desirable traits including pod borer resistance, wild relatives of Cajanus spp. have remained under-utilized due to linkage drag and cross-incompatibility. Discovery and deployment of genes from them can provide means to tackle key pests like H. armigera. Transcriptomic differences between Cajanus platycarpus and Cajanus cajan during different time points (0, 18, 38, 96 h) of pod borer infestation were elucidated in this study. For the first ever time, we demonstrated captivating variations in their response; C. platycarpus apparently being reasonably agile with effectual transcriptomic reprogramming to deter the insect. Deeper insights into the differential response were obtained by identification of significant GO-terms related to herbivory followed by combined KEGG and ontology analyses. C. platycarpus portrayed a multilevel response with cardinal involvement of SAR, redox homeostasis and reconfiguration of primary metabolites leading to a comprehensive defense response. The credibility of RNA-seq analyses was ascertained by transient expression of selected putative insect resistance genes from C. platycarpus viz., chitinase (CHI4), Alpha-amylase/subtilisin inhibitor (IAAS) and Flavonoid 3_5 hydroxylase (C75A1) in Nicotiana benthamiana followed by efficacy analysis against H. armigera. qPCR validated results of the study provided innovative insights and useful leads for development of durable pod borer resistance.

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Data availability

All clean reads were deposited in National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Short Read Archive (SRA) database (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sra) and can be accessed with SRA accession numbers—SRR6785591, SRR6785590, SRR6785593, SRR6785592, SRR8208902, SRR8208913, SRR8208906, SRR8208905, SRR8208904, SRR8208903, SRR8208910, SRR8208909, SRR8208912, SRR8208911, SRR8208908, SRR8208907.

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Funding

The authors acknowledge financial supported by DBT-Indo Swiss Collaboration in Biotechnology (BT/IC-2/ISCB/Phase IV/01/Pigeon Pea/2015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ICAR-National Institute for Plant Biotechnology, Pusa Campus, New Delhi, India

    Maniraj Rathinam, Pragya Mishra, Ajay Kumar Mahato, Nagendra Kumar Singh & Rohini Sreevathsa

  2. Division of Nematology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, New Delhi, India

    Uma Rao

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  1. Maniraj Rathinam
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  2. Pragya Mishra
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  3. Ajay Kumar Mahato
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  4. Nagendra Kumar Singh
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Contributions

R.S., and U.R., conceptualized the work and designed experiments. M.R. designed and conducted in planta challenging experiments. P.M. conducted the expression analyses. M.R., P.M., and A.M. analysed the data. R.S., and M.R. wrote the draft manuscript. R.S., U.R., and N.K.S. critically edited the manuscript. All the authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Uma Rao or Rohini Sreevathsa.

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Rathinam, M., Mishra, P., Mahato, A.K. et al. Comparative transcriptome analyses provide novel insights into the differential response of Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.) and its wild relative (Cajanus platycarpus (Benth.) Maesen) to herbivory by Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner). Plant Mol Biol 101, 163–182 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-019-00899-7

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