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Husker scientists have identified a key plant hormone that strengthens sorghum self-protection against the threat of the sugarcane aphid. The project is part of the university's wide-ranging, multidisciplinary work to advance understanding of sorghum's natural defenses against the pest.

University of Nebraska–Lincoln scientists, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, pointed to the significance of auxin/IAA metabolism and auxin conjugate IAA-Asp, which are involved in various aspects of plant growth and development.

Sorghum resistance was greater when the plants had a higher level of the identified IAA-Asp hormone due to a mutation in the gene Bmr12, said Joe Louis, Harold W. Eberhard Professor of Agricultural Entomology. Husker researchers are primarily focused on how the mutation of this gene affects the aphid population and the mechanism behind it, he said.

After identifying the importance of the IAA-Asp hormone, researchers added varying amounts of it to the aphid diet and found it boosted sorghum's natural pest resistance.

The researchers' findings were recently published in the journal New Phytologist.

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