A novel mechanism of a protease inhibitor protein, Xbpi-1, against Acyrthosiphon pisum

Abstract

Abstract The current study reveals a novel mechanism of the protease inhibitor protein against aphids. The effects of a protease inhibitor protein (PIP), Xbpi-1, on symbiotic bacteria, metabolism processes and gene expression in Acyrthosiphon pisum were investigated. The quantity of Buchnera aphidicola fed on artificial diet containing 100 and 500 µg/ml Xbpi-1 was reduced by 27% and 46% respectively analyzed by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR. The growth of other aphid bacteria was also inhibited by Xbpi-1. In addition, we utilized transcriptome analysis to elucidate the mechanism for the PIP on the gene level. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were analyzed, and Gene Ontology (GO) analysis was also conducted for the 213 differentially expressed genes, to obtain the information of aphid metabolism processes and gene expression affected by the PIP. The results indicated that PIP had adverse effects on aphid gene expression, also showed that several aphid nutrient metabolism pathways affected by PIP.