Affiliation:
1. The National Key Engineering Lab of Crop Stress Resistance Breeding The School of Life Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University Hefei China
2. Center for Crop Pest Detection and Control Anhui Agricultural University Hefei China
3. Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement Beijing China
Abstract
SummaryCorn leaf aphids (Rhopalosiphum maidis) are highly destructive pests of maize (Zea mays) that threaten growth and seed yield, but resources for aphid resistance are scarce. Here, we identified an aphid‐resistant maize mutant, resistance to aphids 1 (rta1), which is allelic to LIGULELESS1 (LG1). We confirmed LG1's role in aphid resistance using the independent allele lg1‐2, allelism tests and LG1 overexpression lines. LG1 interacts with, and increases the stability of ZINC‐FINGER PROTEIN EXPRESSED IN INFLORESCENCE MERISTEM (ZIM1), a central component of the jasmonic acid (JA) signalling pathway, by disturbing its interaction with the F‐box protein CORONATINE INSENSITIVE 1a (COI1a). Natural variation in the LG1 promoter was associated with aphid resistance among inbred lines. Moreover, a loss‐of‐function mutant in the LG1‐related gene SPL8 in the dicot Arabidopsis thaliana conferred aphid resistance. This study revealed the aphid resistance mechanism of lg1, providing a theoretical basis and germplasm for breeding aphid‐resistant crops.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China
National Key Research and Development Program of China