Abstract
The spider mite Tetranychus urticae Koch and the aphid Myzus persicae (Sulzer) both infest a number of economically significant crops, including tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Although used for decades to control pests, the impact of green lacewing larvae Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) on plant biochemistry was not investigated. Here, we used profiling methods and targeted analyses to explore the impact of the predator and herbivore(s)-predator interactions on tomato biochemistry. Each pest and pest-predator combination induced a characteristic metabolite signature in the leaf and the fruit thus, the plant exhibited a systemic response. The treatments had a stronger impact on non-volatile metabolites including abscisic acid and amino acids in the leaves in comparison with the fruits. In contrast, the various biotic factors had a greater impact on the carotenoids in the fruits. We identified volatiles such as myrcene and α-terpinene which were induced by pest-predator interactions but not by single species, and we demonstrated the involvement of the phytohormone abscisic acid in tritrophic interactions for the first time. More importantly, C. carnea larvae alone impacted the plant metabolome, but the predator did not appear to elicit particular defense pathways on its own. Since the presence of both C. carnea larvae and pest individuals elicited volatiles which were shown to contribute to plant defense, C. carnea larvae could therefore contribute to the reduction of pest infestation, not only by its preying activity, but also by priming responses to generalist herbivores such as T. urticae and M. persicae. On the other hand, the use of C. carnea larvae alone did not impact carotenoids thus, was not prejudicial to the fruit quality. The present piece of research highlights the specific impact of predator and tritrophic interactions with green lacewing larvae, spider mites, and aphids on different components of the tomato primary and secondary metabolism for the first time, and provides cues for further in-depth studies aiming to integrate entomological approaches and plant biochemistry.
Highlights
Since the spider mite Tetranychus urticae Koch and the aphid Myzus persicae (Sulzer) are highly fecund and quickly complete their life-cycle under similar climatic conditions (Van Emden et al, 1969; Wermelinger et al, 1991), they both infest a number of economically significant crops, including tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)
Metabolites involved in the amino acid metabolism were conspicuous (Supplemental Table S1) a targeted analysis of amino acids was subsequently performed to assess their concentration in tomato tissues
No C. carnea larvae were seen on plants exposed to the Predator treatment 10 days after their release, which may results from the onset of cannibalism brought on by food shortage (McEwen et al, 2001), the metabolite profile of the tomato plants differed when comparing the Predator treatment and control plants
Summary
Since the spider mite Tetranychus urticae Koch and the aphid Myzus persicae (Sulzer) are highly fecund and quickly complete their life-cycle under similar climatic conditions (Van Emden et al, 1969; Wermelinger et al, 1991), they both infest a number of economically significant crops, including tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). A wide array of volatile and non-volatile compounds either constitutively present or induced in response to herbivory has been discovered These biochemical defenses can promote plant tolerance and resistance, for example by repelling the pest (Schaller, 2008; Dicke et al, 2009). Pest infestation tends to up-regulate the secondary metabolism of the hostplant, and down-regulates its primary metabolism (Stam et al, 2014). Both the nature and the role of the metabolites involved in the plant response appear to be specific to a particular pest-plant system (Agrawal, 2000; Zhou S. et al, 2015)
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