Concanavalin A Toxicity Towards Potato Psyllid and Apoptosis Induction in Midgut Cells

Abstract

Concanavalin A (ConA), a legume lectin, has been drawing increasing attention in recent years concerning its toxicity against insects and its potential application in pest management. In an attempt to evaluate the effect of ConA on potato psyllid (Bactericera cockerelli), an economically important pest of solanaceous crops, the effect of ConA on potato psyllid survival, psyllid gut nuclear morphology, and expression of psyllid caspase genes were evaluated. Our results determined that artificial diet-feeding assays using ConA had deleterious effects on potato psyllids, resulting in significant psyllid mortality following ingestion. We also found that an apoptotic response was induced by ConA in psyllid midgut cells, which was demonstrated by the DNA fragmentation and abnormal nuclear architecture in the midgut cells. Following ConA ingestion, there was also upregulation of caspase genes in the psyllid midguts. Therefore, a key mechanism behind ConA toxicity towards potato psyllid probably involves the induction of apoptosis in midgut cells. This study could provide a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying ConA toxicity in insects and be a stepping stone towards the development of new psyllid control strategies based on plant lectins.

Ultrasmall iron oxide nanoparticles induced ferroptosis via Beclin1/ATG5-dependent autophagy pathway

“…Simultaneously, our experiments showed that inhibitors of apoptosis, necrosis, and pyroptosis cannot reverse USIONPs-induced ferroptosis. However, ConA, a specific inhibitor of vacuolar type H + -ATPase activity (V-ATPase),which is capable of inducing apoptosis[ 36 ], promoted USIONPs-induced cell inhibitory rates unlike BAFA1 and CQ. These suggested that inhibitor of apoptosis couldn't reverse the USIONPs-induced ferroptosis, while apoptosis inducer may help USIONPs-induced ferroptosis.…”

Liberibacter, A Preemptive Bacterium: Apoptotic Response Repression in the Host Gut at the Early Infection to Facilitate Its Acquisition and Transmission

“…The dissected guts were fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde for 2 h at room temperature. After that, the guts were blocked by 5% bovine serum albumin in 1X PBS with 0.1% Tween 20, then incubated with TUNEL (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling) for 6 h as described in Tang et al (2020a) and Wang et al (2018) . TUNEL staining was performed using the In Situ Cell Death Detection Kit (Roche, Basel, Switzerland).…”

“…We also used the apoptosis inducer Concanavalin A (ConA) by feeding, as a positive control. Following the protocol of our colleagues ( Sprawka et al, 2015 ; Tang et al, 2020a ) with modifications, the liquid diet used for psyllid feeding bioassays was prepared with a sterilized solution of 15% (w: v) sucrose and 1X PBS (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO). ConA (MP Biomedicals, Solon, OH) was incorporated into the diet at a concentration of 2,000 μg/ml ( Sprawka et al, 2015 ).…”

Bacterial Vector-Borne Plant Diseases: Unanswered Questions and Future Directions

“…Development of strategies that induce apoptosis in the psyllid midgut, by manipulation of caspase genes, for example, may be a novel means to control acquisition and transmission of liberibacters by psyllids. For example, the legume lectin concanavalin A has been reported to induce apoptosis in the potato psyllid midgut when ingested from an artificial diet ( Tang et al, 2020 ).…”