Abstract Detail

Symbioses: Plant, Animal, and Microbe Interactions

Dismukes , Wade Thomas [1], Bergstrom, Dean [2], Edger, Patrick [3], Onyia, Christie [4], Appel, Heidi [5], Schultz, Jack [5].

Darwin's peaches: grape-phylloxera galls interrogated by RNA-Seq.

Insect galls are plant structures whose development is controlled by an insect, which Charles Darwin thought resembled peaches. Our current hypothesis is that galling insects have coopted the reproductive development genes of the plant in forming galls (a feeding structure for developing insects). This study compared the differences between grape leaves that were under attack by an insect, known as phylloxera, creating galls, and grape leaves that had no galls on them. To do this, the transcriptomes of galled leaves and leaves were compared. We found differences in 18 floral whorl development genes in galled leaves as compared to ungalled leaves. This suggests that the insect is inducing the expression of floral development genes within the leaf to develop galls.

1 - 5131 Commercial Dr, Columbia, MO, 65203, USA
2 - University of Missouri, 1201 E Rollins St, 312 Bond Life Science Center, Columbia, MO, 65201, United States
3 - University of California- Berkeley
4 - University of Missouri, Biological Sciences, 1201 E Rollins St, 311 Bond Life Science Center, Columbia, MO, 65201, United States
5 - University of Missouri, Plant Sciences, 1201 E Rollins St, 312 Bond Life Science Center, Columbia, MO, 65201, United States

Keywords:
Vitis
phylloxera
galls
RNASeq
transcriptomics.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Topics
Session: P
Location: Eyrie/Boise Centre
Date: Monday, July 28th, 2014
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PSB001
Abstract ID:136
Candidate for Awards:None