The induction of plant defenses by insect feeding is regulated via multiple signaling cascades. One of them, ethylene signaling, increases susceptibility of Arabidopsis to the generalist herbivore Egyptian cotton worm (Spodoptera littoralis; Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). The hookless1 mutation, which affects a downstream component of ethylene signaling, conferred resistance to Egyptian cotton worm as compared with wild-type plants. Likewise, ein2, a mutant in a central component of the ethylene signaling pathway, caused enhanced resistance to Egyptian cotton worm that was similar in magnitude to hookless1. Moreover, pretreatment of plants with ethephon (2-chloroethanephosphonic acid), a chemical that releases ethylene, elevated plant susceptibility to Egyptian cotton worm. By contrast, these mutations in the ethylene-signaling pathway had no detectable effects on diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) feeding. It is surprising that this is not due to nonactivation of defense signaling, because diamondback moth does induce genes that relate to wound-response pathways. Of these wound-related genes, jasmonic acid regulates a novel -glucosidase 1 (BGL1), whereas ethylene controls a putative calcium-binding elongation factor hand protein. These results suggest that a specialist insect herbivore triggers general wound-response pathways in Arabidopsis but, unlike a generalist herbivore, does not react to ethylene-mediated physiological changes.Resistance or tolerance of plants to insect herbivores and pathogens is mediated via constitutive or induced defense mechanisms (Mauricio et al., 1997; Buell, 1998). Inducible defenses play a major role in conferring disease resistance against plant pathogens (Maleck and Dietrich, 1999), and their effects on phytophagous insects can include increased toxicity, delay of larval development, or increased attack by insect parasitoids (Baldwin and Preston, 1999). Inducible defenses are thought to compromise plant fitness less, and maybe more durable, than constitutive defense mechanisms (Agrawal, 1998).During their evolution, specialist herbivores have explored new ecological niches and adapted to novel plant chemical defenses (Ehrlich and Raven, 1964). It is therefore not surprising that specialist herbivores are frequently attracted to secondary metabolites from their hosts. For instance, glucosinolates and their hydrolysis products are feeding and oviposition attractants for crucifer specialists (Gupta and Thorsteinson, 1960; Hicks, 1974), but deterrents for nonadapted insects (McCloskey and Isman, 1993). Specialist herbivores frequently detoxify or sequester plant defense compounds. The latter form of adaptation can even result in protection against parasitoids and predators. Differences in metabolism of plant toxins may be one reason why some induced defenses protect against generalist, but not specialist insect herbivores (Agrawal, 1999).Several signaling pathways, including jasmonic acid (JA), salicylic acid (SA), ethylene, and perhaps hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ; Reymond and Farm...
A tomato line (IL9-2-5) of the cultivated species, Lycopersicon esculentum, carrying a 9 cM introgression from the wild species, Lycopersicon pennelli, produces fruit with high soluble solids content (Brix), an important determinant of fruit quality for processing. Two quantitative trait loci (QTLs) relating to fruit soluble solids content have been identified within the introgressed segment. One of these QTLs (PW-9-2-5) is silent under the growth conditions used in this study, while a second (Brix-9-2-5) has been shown to encode a fruit apoplastic invertase (Lin5) with altered kinetic properties. In this study, we have undertaken a detailed biochemical analysis of the introgression line to attempt to gain an understanding of the metabolic changes associated with increased fruit soluble solids. Increased Brix in ripe fruit was shown to be the result of increased sucrose and glucose, with a more minor contribution from aspartate and alanine. The introgression leads to a pronounced increase in apoplastic invertase activity in the columella tissue that extends throughout fruit development. Furthermore, columella tissue from IL9-2-5 fruit has a greater capacity to take up exogenously supplied sucrose, an observation that is consistent with the kinetic properties of the introgressed Lin5 allele. Apart from the increase in mature fruit sugar and increases in some amino acids, metabolite profiling revealed few other metabolic perturbations in fruit from IL9-2-5. The only other major change was a dramatic increase in starch accumulation at earlier stages of fruit metabolism. This occurred without any increase in the activity of the enzymes of sucrose metabolism or starch synthesis and may therefore be driven by increased availability of sucrose. We conclude that the major factor that leads to increased fruit sugar in IL9-2-5 is an increase in the capacity to take up sucrose unloaded from the phloem.
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