Rice Defense against Brown Planthopper Partially by Suppressing the Expression of Transferrin Family Genes of Brown Planthopper

Transferrins are multifunctional
proteins, but their role in the
interaction of rice and brown planthopper (BPH) remains unclear. In
this study, the full-length cDNA of transferrin genes NlTsf1, NlTsf2, and NlTsf3 was cloned.
Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction showed
that the expressions of NlTsf1 and NlTsf3 were significantly suppressed in BPH reared on the resistant rice
R1 by 68.0 and 86.7%, respectively, compared with that on the susceptible
S9. The survival rate decreased to 3.3% for dsNlTsf3-treated nymphs,
to 58.9% for dsNlTsf1, and to 56.7% for dsNlTsf2 on day 11. RNAi of NlTsf3 against females largely reduced the number of eggs
by 99.4%, and it decreased by 48.6% for dsNlTsf1 but did not significantly
decrease for dsNlTsf2. Collectively, NlTsf1, NlTsf2, and NlTsf3 are essential for the
survival and fecundity of BPH and are differentially involved in the
interaction between rice and BPH. Therefore, NlTsf1 and NlTsf3 may be used as targets to control BPH.