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Leaf structural traits mediating pre-existing physical innate resistance to sorghum aphid in sorghum under uninfested conditions

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Abstract

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We found four indicative traits of innate immunity. Sorghum-resistant varieties had a greater trichome, stomatal and chloroplast density, and smaller mesophyll intercellular width than susceptible varieties.

Abstract

The sorghum aphid (SA), Melanaphis sorghi (Theobald), can severely reduce sorghum yield. The contribution of structural traits to SA resistance has not been extensively studied. Moreover, the current screening method for resistance is inherently subjective for resistance and requires infestation in plants. Quantifying the microanatomical basis of innate SA resistance is crucial for developing reliable screening tools requiring no infestation. The goal of this study was to identify structural traits linked to physical innate SA resistance in sorghum. We conducted controlled environment and field experiments under no SA infestation conditions, with two resistant (R. LBK1 and R. Tx2783) and two susceptible (R. Tx7000 and R. Tx430) varieties. Leaf tissues collected at the fifth leaf stage in the controlled environment experiment were analyzed for the epidermal and mesophyll traits using light and transmission electron microscopy. Leaf tissues collected at physiological maturity in the field experiment were analyzed for surface traits using scanning electron microscopy. Our results showed that stomatal density, trichome density, trichome length, and chloroplast density are key leaf structural traits indicative of physical innate SA resistance. We found that resistant varieties had a greater density of trichomes (39%), stomata (31%), and chloroplast (42%), and smaller mesophyll intercellular width (− 52%) than susceptible varieties. However, the chloroplast, mitochondria, and epidermal cell ultrastructural traits were ineffective indicators of SA resistance. Our findings provide the foundation for developing an objective high-throughput method for SA resistance screening. We suggest a follow-up validation experiment to confirm our outcomes under SA infestation conditions.

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Data availability

All data used and analyzed during this study are included in this article.

Abbreviations

SA:

Sorghum aphid

SEM:

Scanning electron microscopy

TEM:

Transmission electron microscopy

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge Dr. Zhao and Mary Catherine, from the Imaging Center, at TTU assisting with the microscopy analysis.

Funding

This work was supported by the United States Department of Agriculture-ARS [grant number 58-3096-0-020]; Foundation for Food and Agriculture, [grant number 2013-67013-21108].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA

    Ethan Triplett, Scott Longing, Catherine Simpson & Haydee E. Laza

  2. Cropping Systems Research Laboratory, USDA-ARS, Lubbock, TX, 79415, USA

    Chad Hayes & Yves Emendack

  3. District of Columbia, FAS, USDA, Washington, TX, USA

    Cecilia Monclova

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  1. Ethan Triplett
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  2. Chad Hayes
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  3. Yves Emendack
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Correspondence to Haydee E. Laza.

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Triplett, E., Hayes, C., Emendack, Y. et al. Leaf structural traits mediating pre-existing physical innate resistance to sorghum aphid in sorghum under uninfested conditions. Planta 258, 46 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-023-04194-0

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