Maize transcriptional responses to specialist and generalist spider mite herbivores

Spider mites, including the two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae, TSSM) and the Banks grass mite (Oligonychus pratensis, BGM), are becoming increasingly important agricultural pests. The TSSM is an extreme generalist documented to feed on more than 1100 plant hosts. In contrast, the BGM is a grass specialist, with hosts including important cereal crops like maize, wheat, and sorghum. Historically, studies of plant-herbivore interactions have focused largely on insects. As such, far less is known about plant responses to spider mite herbivores, especially in grasses, and whether responses differ between generalist and specialist mites. To identify plant defense pathways responding to spider mites, we collected time course RNA-seq data from maize (Zea mays) infested with TSSMs and BGMs. Additionally, and as a comparison to the physical damage caused by spider mite feeding, a wounding treatment was also included. In total, four biological samples were generated per treatment. The experiment was performed with four biological replicates across each of the following (28 samples in total): no infestation (C, control), 2hr after wounding (W2), 24hr after wounding (W24), 2hr after TSSM infestation (T2), 24hr after TSSM infestation (T24), 2hr after BGM infestation (B2), and 24hr after BGM infestation (B24).