Poster
Edmund Astin
University of Dundee
DUNDEE, Scotland, United Kingdom
Thomas Waksman
University of Dundee
Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom
S. Ronan Fisher
University of Dundee
Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom
Jade R. Bleau
University of Dundee
Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom
Namami Gaur
University of Dundee
Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom
Bill Hunter
University of Dundee
Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom
Jorunn Bos
University of Dundee
Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom
Aphids are small sap feeding insects which represent a threat to crop production. The green peach aphid, Myzus persicae, is a notable pest due to its broad host range, role as a virus vector, and pesticide resistance. New, targeted methods for aphid control are needed, and their development requires an in-depth understanding of how aphids interact with plants. During feeding and probing, aphids secrete saliva which contains effectors into plant tissues. Genomic and proteomic approaches have identified effector repertoires of many aphid species including M. persicae, allowing the functional characterisation of individual effector proteins. Yeast two-hybrid screening against a potato library pointed to interaction of effector Mp65 with StGRXS17, a glutaredoxin implicated in the heat stress response in Arabidopsis. This interaction has been validated by co-immunoprecipitation, and the presence of StGRXS17 increases detectable Mp65 protein levels, suggesting that StGRXS17 may stabilise Mp65. The interaction is species specific in that ApARMET, an Mp65 homologue from the pea aphid A. pisum, is not able to interact with StGRXS17. We are currently investigating the role of StGRXS17 in plant susceptibility to aphids, and have produced recombinant Mp65 and StGRXS17 in E. coli to further characterise the interaction in vitro. An understanding of how aphid effectors interact with their host targets may offer insights into preventing effector-mediated host susceptibility to aphids.