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Proteinase inhibitors from Cajanus platycarpus accessions active against pod borer Helicoverpa armigera

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Abstract

Cajanus platycarpus, a wild relative of Cajanus cajan, is an important source for various agronomically desirable traits, including resistance towards pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera. In the present study, the inhibitory activity of proteinase inhibitors (PIs) present in crude protein extracted from different accessions of C. platycarpus and cultivars of C. cajan was evaluated against H. armigera under in vitro and in vivo conditions. The PIs active against H. armigera gut trypsin-like proteinases (HGPs), referred to as ‘HGPIs’, were more pronounced in mature dry seeds of C. platycarpus accessions when compared with cultivars, which is also evident through gelatin activity staining studies. Therefore, the inhibitory activity of HGPIs was further evaluated in various plant organs of C. platycarpus accessions, such as leaves, flowers, pods, developing seeds at 8–10 days (DAP-I), 18–20 days (DAP-II), and 28–32 days after pollination (DAP-III). However, the HGPI activity was more pronounced in mature dry seeds > DAP-III > DAP-II > DAP-I > flowers > pods > leaves. The observed quantitative allocation of HGPIs closely resembled “Optimal Defense Theory”. Further, bioassays demonstrated that there was a significant reduction in the body weight of the larvae fed upon crude PI extracts of C. platycarpus accessions with concomitant increase in mortality rate and the formation of larval–pupal intermediates. Nevertheless, such changes were not observed when the larvae were fed on crude PI extracts of C. cajan cultivars. These results suggest that the PI gene(s) from C. platycarpus accessions could be exploited in the management of H. armigera by introgression into C. cajan cultivars.

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Abbreviations

CI:

Chymotrypsin inhibitor

DAP:

Days after pollination

HGPs:

Helicoverpa armigera gut (trypsin-like) proteinases

HGPIs:

Helicoverpa armigera gut (trypsin-like) proteinase inhibitors

PIs:

Proteinase inhibitors

TI:

Trypsin inhibitor

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the Department of Biotechnology to KPS (PI), ADG (Co-PI) New Delhi [Ref No. BT/PR 13261/AGR/05/489/2009/(letter I) dt. 21-12-2010]. SSM is a recipient of JRF/SRF in the project while SV and MG are recipients of SRF and JRF, respectively from DBT. We thank Prof. A. S. Raghavendra and Dr. Saradadevi Tetali from University of Hyderabad for extending their lab facilities and valuable suggestions while implementing the experiments. The Departmental and School facilities of UoH were supported by grants from DST-FIST, UGC-DRS and DST-PURSE all from New Delhi, India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Sciences, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India

    Marri Swathi & Soundappan S. Mohanraj

  2. Legumes Cell Biology, Grain Legumes Program, ICRISAT, Patancheru, Hyderabad, India

    Nalini Mallikarjuna

  3. Department of Animal Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India

    Aparna Dutta-Gupta

  4. Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, 500 046, India

    Vanka Swaroop, Mariyamma Gujjarlapudi & Kollipara Padmasree

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  1. Marri Swathi
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  2. Soundappan S. Mohanraj
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Correspondence to Kollipara Padmasree.

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Communicated by M. J. Reigosa.

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Swathi, M., Mohanraj, S.S., Swaroop, V. et al. Proteinase inhibitors from Cajanus platycarpus accessions active against pod borer Helicoverpa armigera . Acta Physiol Plant 37, 242 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-015-1991-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-015-1991-8

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