Genomic Duplication and Auxin Manipulation Enable Gall Aphids to Reprogram Host Plants
Researchers sequenced the genome of the horned gall aphid and identified how it manipulates host plants to form protective galls through a salivary enzyme that increases auxin levels. The aphid's chromosome 1 is unusually large and gene-rich, containing duplicated genes that produce the auxin-modifying enzyme ACY1. This discovery reveals a molecular mechanism by which parasitic insects evolved to control plant development for their own benefit.
Scientists generated chromosome-level genomes for the horned gall aphid Schlechtendalia chinensis and its host tree Rhus chinensis, then used proteomics, metabolomics, and functional assays to understand gall formation. The aphid genome features an anomalously expanded chromosome 1 (93.61 Mb) carrying one-third of all genes and concentrating most segmental duplications, along with high transposable-element content and tandem gene clusters. The team identified a salivary M20-family enzyme called ACY1 that functions as an auxin-conjugate hydrolase, converting inactive auxin-amino acid conjugates into active auxin in host plant tissue. Loss- and gain-of-function experiments confirmed that ACY1 drives this hormone manipulation, which reprograms plant cell development to form the protective galls where aphids live. The findings suggest that concentrated genomic duplication is a general evolutionary principle underlying the development of parasitic traits.
What different sources said
- bioRxivCenter
Chromosome gigantism and auxin deconjugation underpin gall induction in a horned gall aphid
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