Host-dependent salivary effector candidates and predicted plant immune targets in Spodoptera frugiperda
Salivary secretions of herbivorous insects contain proteins that modulate plant defence and facilitate herbivory. Despite the broad host range of Spodoptera frugiperda, a major agricultural pest, its salivary molecular arsenal involved in interactions with different host plants remains poorly understood. In particular, the salivary proteins induced during feeding on different host plants and their potential interactions with plant immune components remain largely unexplored. To address this gap, we generated salivary gland transcriptomes from larvae reared on an artificial diet as well as larvae fed on tomato or chickpea plants. Comparative transcriptomic analysis identified salivary genes that were differentially expressed in response to plant feeding compared with the artificial diet. The encoded proteins were subsequently analysed using a secretory protein prediction pipeline to identify host-induced putatively secreted proteins with potential effector functions. Candidate salivary effectors were further investigated using large-scale in silico protein-protein interaction analyses with AlphaPulldown to predict their interactions with immune-pathway associated proteins of tomato and chickpea. This analysis identified multiple putative salivary effector candidates whose expression was induced by plants feeding, with distinct candidate repertoires associated with tomato and chickpea. Predicted interactions between these candidates and plant immune-associated proteins further identified potential host targets. Together, these findings suggest that S. frugiperda may adjust its salivary molecular repertoire in response to the host plant and provide a transcriptome-wide framework for validating effector-target interactions and elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying S. frugiperda-plant interactions.