An ERF transcription factor enhances plant resistance to Myzus persicae and Spodoptera litura

Abstract

Aphids are sap-sucking insects and are pests that cause substantial damage to many crops worldwide. Spodoptera litura is a leaf-chewing insect and poses a severe threat to many species of vegetable and cotton plants. In this paper, we studied an ethylene-responsive factor (ERF) that enhances plant resistance to sap-sucking and leaf-chewing insects. ERF11-like was obtained from Chinese cabbage via reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and was termed BrERF11b. The putative protein encoded by the BrERF11b gene includes 168 amino acid residues and contains an EAR motif. The plasmid pBI121-BrERF11b was constructed and transformed into tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum cv. K326 and N. benthamiana) by the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method. The function of the BrERF11b gene in the resistance of the transgenic plants to Myzus persicae and S. litura was assayed. The results showed that the weights of the S. litura larvae fed the transgenic plant line were significantly reduced from 28 to 76% compared to those of the S. litura larvae fed the control plants (wild type), and the transgenic plant line KLine12 significantly reduced the survival rate of S. litura by 62.5%. The colony growth of the apteral aphids fed the transgenic plant line was significantly reduced from 22.5 to 63.4% compared to that of the apteral aphids fed the control plants. Compared to control plants, the transgenic plant line significantly reduced the survival rate of the aphids from 46 to 55%. These results first indicate that the BrERF11b gene significantly enhances plant resistance to S. litura and M. persicae.

Keywords:

• Myzus persicae
• Spodoptera litura
• ERF transcription factor
• BrERF11b
• plant resistance

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The data supporting this paper are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work is supported by Open Fund for Key Laboratories of Education Department in Hunan Province（Grant number: 18K100）.