A Genome-Wide View of Transcriptional Responses During Infestation in Soybean

Soybean aphid ( Matsumura) is one of the major limiting factors in soybean production. The mechanism of aphid resistance in soybean remains enigmatic as little information is available about the different mechanisms of antibiosis and antixenosis. Here, we used genome-wide gene expression profiling of aphid susceptible, antibiotic, and antixenotic genotypes to investigate the underlying aphid-plant interaction mechanisms. The high expression correlation between infested and non-infested genotypes indicated that the response to aphid was controlled by a small subset of genes. Plant response to aphid infestation was faster in antibiotic genotype and the interaction in antixenotic genotype was moderation. The expression patterns of transcription factor genes in susceptible and antixenotic genotypes clustered together and were distant from those of antibiotic genotypes. Among them APETALA 2/ethylene response factors (AP2/ERF), v-myb avian myeloblastosis viral oncogene homolog (MYB), and the transcription factor contained conserved WRKYGQK domain (WRKY) were proposed to play dominant roles. The jasmonic acid-responsive pathway was dominant in aphid-soybean interaction, and salicylic acid pathway played an important role in antibiotic genotype. Callose deposition was more rapid and efficient in antibiotic genotype, while reactive oxygen species were not involved in the response to aphid attack in resistant genotypes. Our study helps to uncover important genes associated with aphid-attack response in soybean genotypes expressing antibiosis and antixenosis.