Herbivory-Induced Emission of Volatile Terpenes in Chrysanthemum morifolium Functions as an Indirect Defense against Spodoptera litura Larvae by Attracting Natural Enemies.

Abstract

Indirect defense is an important strategy employed by sessile plants to defend against herbivorous insects by recruiting the natural enemies of herbivores mediated by herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs). We aimed to determine whether indirect defense occurs in Compositae with Chrysanthemum morifolium as the model and elucidate the mechanisms underlying the biosynthesis of HIPVs. Using two-choice olfactometer bioassays, we showed that C. morifolium plants following infestation by larvae of the tobacco cutworm (Spodoptera litura, TCW) were significantly more attractive to two natural enemies of TCW larvae than control plants, indicating that indirect defense is an active defense strategy of C. morifolium. The chemical cue responsible for indirect defense in C. morifolium was identified as a complex blend of volatiles predominated by sesquiterpenes and monoterpenes. A total of 11 candidate terpene synthase (TPS) genes were identified by comparing the transcriptomes of healthy and TCW-infested plants. Gene expression analysis confirmed that up-regulated CmjTPS genes are consistent with the elevated emission of terpenes after herbivory treatment. Our study showed that the herbivore-induced emission of JA-dependent volatile terpenes attracted both predatory and parasitic enemies of herbivores. Generally, our findings indicate that indirect defense might be an important defense mechanism against insects in C. morifolium.