Advances in the Study of Mite Gallogenesis and Its Comparison with the Development of Insect-Induced Galls

Abstract

The present article reviews the main parasite–host model systems that have been used in recent studies in the molecular genetic analysis and in the investigation of the morpho-functional traits of mite gallogenesis on the leaves of angiosperms. The aforementioned works focused on the development of galls with a chamber, while other types of mite galls, including the most simply organized (erinea), remain virtually unstudied. Our article discusses the possible role of endosymbiotic bacteria in the induction of mite gallogenesis, as well as changes in the adaxial-abaxial polarity of the leaf and the expression of host plant genes during gallogenesis. The need for additional testing of the hypothesis regarding the participation of bacteria of the genera Wolbachia and Rhodococcus in the induction of gallogenesis is demonstrated. We have revealed certain convergent similarities in the gallogeneses induced by the grape phylloxera and by the gall mites. In particular, in both instances, the nutritive tissue is formed, the primary gall-inducing stimulus is produced by the feeding of females on young leaves, and the gall formations are accompanied by the abaxialization of the leaf. A review of the literature suggests that the Hearn’s hypothesis about the similarity of arthropod gallogenesis with the somatic embryogenesis of plants, as well as Wolpert’s embryological concept of the positional information in its classical form, are not appropriate for the modeling of gallogenesis. Finally, a new impetus for the study of gallogenesis could be provided by the studies that investigate the link between the genetic heterogeneity of different zones of the leaf blade and the developmental patterns of galls formed in these zones under the influence of plant parasites. © Acarina 2024.