Abstract
Belowground symbiosis of plants with beneficial microbes is known to confer resistance to aboveground pests such as herbivorous arthropods and pathogens. Similarly, microbe-induced plant responses may also impact natural enemies of pests via the elicitation of plant defense responses and/or alteration of plant quality and growth. Nesidiocoris tenuis is a zoophytophagous predator and an efficient biological control agent of greenhouse pests. Its usefulness in plant protection is often hindered by its ability to damage plants at high predator population densities or when prey is scarce. In this study, we investigated the effect of Fusarium solani strain K (FsK), an endophytic fungal isolate that colonizes tomato root tissues, on the capability of N. tenuis to cause necrotic rings, an easily discernible symptom, on tomato stems and leaves. We found significantly less necrotic rings formed on FsK-inoculated plants for all tomato cultivars tested. FsK has been previously shown to confer ethylene-mediated tomato resistance to both foliar and root fungal pathogens; thus, the ethylene-insensitive Never ripe (Nr) and epinastic (epi) tomato plant mutant lines were included in our study to assess the role of ethylene in the recorded FsK-mediated plant damage reduction. The jasmonic acid (JA)-biosynthesis tomato mutant def-1 was also used since JA is known to mediate major anti-herbivore plant responses. We show that ethylene and JA are required for FsK to efficiently protect tomato plants from N. tenuis feeding. No necrotic rings were recorded on FsK-inoculated epi plants suggesting that ethylene overproduction may be key to tomato resistance to N. tenuis feeding.
Highlights
Plants are associated with a vast diversity of microbes that exert beneficial effects on their performance
These results suggest that ethylene and jasmonate biosynthesis and signaling are essential for the expression of the Fusarium solani strain K (FsK)-mediated reduction of plant damage caused by N. tenuis
We report a mutualistic relationship between tomato and the fungal endophyte F. solani strain K (FsK), shown to mediate resistance to plant damage caused by the zoophytophagous predator N. tenuis
Summary
Plants are associated with a vast diversity of microbes that exert beneficial effects on their performance. Soil-borne microbes in particular, such as endophytic fungi, plant growth promoting fungi and rhizobacteria as well as arbuscular mycorrhizae have long been recognized for their benefits to plant growth and nutrition (Smith and Smith, 2011; Hadar and Papadopoulou, 2012; Finkel et al, 2017). Certain root colonizing microbes are known to antagonize soil-borne pathogens and/or prime plant defense against future attackers (Pineda et al, 2010; Pieterse et al, 2014). Improved plant growth and/or nutrition by plant-growth promoting fungi and rhizobacteria have been shown to result in positive effects on herbivore performance (Pineda et al, 2010; Ahemad and Kibret, 2014). Defense priming triggered by beneficial microbes, often referred to as Induced Systemic Resistance (ISR), can impact herbivores via direct or indirect defense elicitation (Pineda et al, 2010; Pieterse et al, 2014)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.