Imidacloprid Triggers Transcriptomic Changes in Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum)

Sugarcane, the commercial sugar-yielding crop, frequently suffers serious damage by trunk borers. The neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid is often used for disturbing insect nervous system to defense pests, while the molecular regulation of plant response controlling the imidacloprid is still unclear. Here, using the RNA-seq method, we detected the transcription level of sugarcane roots under the imidacloprid treatment for 24 h and 48 h, respectively. Results showed that a total of 1544 and 966 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected under 24 h (1045 up-regulated and 499 down-regulated) and 48 h imidacloprid treatment (539 up-regulated and 427 down-regulated), respectively. Then the accuracy of RNA-seq data was verified by qRT-PCR assay, and a significant positive correlation between RNA-seq data and qRT-PCR results was detected. Crucial genes encoding the peroxidase (Sspon.03G0025980-4P, Sspon.08G0008080-2B) and the ZIM TFs (Sspon.01G0017230-1A, Sspon.01G0042730-3D) were prominently up-regulated in the 24 h treatment, while genes encoding nitrite reductase (Sspon.04G0002730-1A, Sspon.04G0002730-3D) were significantly down-regulated in the 24 h stress. In all, our results not only provide a whole expression analysis of imidacloprid on sugarcane but also are helpful in exploring crucial genes related to plant response on imidacloprid.