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Published on: June 19, 2011
Integrated Structural, Physiological, and Molecular Assessment of Sugar Beet Infested by Scrobipalpa ocellatella
Ildikó Jócsák1, Ádám Csóka2, Tamás Donkó2
1Institute of Agronomy, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 7400 Kaposvár, Hungary.
Background:
The beet moth, Scrobipalpa ocellatella Boyd, 1858 (Lep.: Gelechiidae), is an increasingly important pest whose climate-driven expansion threatens sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) production in Europe. This study aimed to characterize the structural, physiological, biochemical, and molecular responses of sugar beet to infestation.
Methods:
Plants were analysed using computed tomography (CT), SPAD and NDVI measurements, HPLC-based sugar analysis, FRAP and MDA assays, and RT-qPCR of antioxidant-related genes.
Results:
CT imaging enabled non-destructive detection of larvae (mean length: 7.32 ± 0.73 mm) and pest-induced cavities (982.20 ± 316.04 mm3). SPAD did not differ significantly among treatments, whereas NDVI was consistently reduced in infested plants, declining from 0.648 ± 0.031 in non-infested plants to 0.593 ± 0.038 in infested-treated plants and 0.611 ± 0.021 in infested-untreated plants at the first sampling. Infestation induced pronounced oxidative stress, with FRAP increasing from 14.102 ± 0.943 to 25.471 ± 0.922 µg AA eq g-1 FW and MDA from 558.065 ± 21.819 to 1325.806 ± 16.762 nmol g-1 FW in untreated infested plants. Antioxidant gene expression was significantly upregulated, particularly for SOD, CAT, APX, DHAR, MDAR, and GPX.
Conclusions:
S. ocellatella infestation triggered coordinated oxidative stress responses in sugar beet, while CT and NDVI proved useful for early damage detection.
