The Center for Sorghum Improvement (CSI) will host a virtual seminar by Dr. Joe Louis, Eberhard Professor of Entomology at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, on Tuesday, September 9 at 11:00 AM CT. His talk, titled “Regulation of Sorghum Defenses Against Fall Armyworm,” will highlight ongoing research into the mechanisms underlying sorghum’s resistance to this destructive, polyphagous pest.
The abstract of Dr. Louis’ presentation is provided below:
Sorghum, one of the world’s most important monocot crops, suffers severe yield losses due to attack by a polyphagous insect pest, fall armyworm (FAW; Spodoptera frugiperda). Previously, we found that sorghum phenylpropanoid pathway plays a key role in providing sorghum resistance to FAW. In this study, we show that the Brown midrib 12 (Bmr12) gene, which encodes the caffeic acid O-methyltransferase (COMT) enzyme, promotes sorghum defense against FAW. Loss of Bmr12 function resulted in increased susceptibility, but enhanced resistance to FAW was observed in Bmr12-overexpression (OE) plants compared with wild-type (RTx430) plants. A combination of metabolomic and transcriptomic analysis uncovered that COMT-mediated resistance to FAW depends on jasmonic acid (JA), oxidative stress-associated pathways, and flavonoids. Further, our findings demonstrate that FAW saliva, as a counter-defense mechanism, can suppress sorghum flavonoid-based defenses. The underlying mechanisms governing sorghum-FAW interactions will be discussed.
For information on this and future seminars visit the CSI seminar webpage.
