An Acylsucrose-Producing Tomato Line Derived from the Wild Species Solanum pimpinellifolium Decreases Fitness of the Whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum

Abstract

A combination of biological control and host plant resistance would be desirable for optimally controlling the greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum in tomato crops. Whitefly settlement preference, oviposition, and survivorship were evaluated on ABL 10-4 and ‘Moneymaker’, two nearly-isogenic tomato lines with, and without, whitefly-resistance traits based on type IV leaf glandular trichomes derived from the tomato wild species Solanum pimpinellifolium, respectively. Significantly reduced preference of T. vaporariorum adult whiteflies for ABL 10-4 leaves was observed. Moreover, T. vaporariorum altered its abaxial–adaxial settling performance on leaves of ABL 10-4 plants. A significantly lower tendency to settle on abaxial leaf surface was observed in ABL 10-4 compared to Moneymaker plants. Furthermore, T. vaporariorum deposited fewer eggs and exhibited a significantly reduced egg to adult survivorship in ABL 10-4 than in Moneymaker plants. Therefore, reduced fitness and distorted performance were observed for T. vaporariorum on ABL 10-4 tomato plants supporting that type IV leaf glandular trichomes might protect them from this pest and, indirectly, from the viruses it transmits.

Discovery of a Major QTL Controlling Trichome IV Density in Tomato using K-seq Genotyping

“…Additionally, our results contribute to the development of tomato lines with a higher density of type IV trichomes, and likely insect resistance [15]. Several efforts have been made to develop introgressed lines with type IV trichomes enriched in acylsugars [25,56,58].…”

“…S. pimpinellifolium is the closest wild relative of cultivated tomato and a common source of alleles for breeders. However, until now, presence of type IV trichomes has only been described at low densities (< 20 trichomes/mm 2 ) [27,55,56]. In the present study, we have characterized a S. pimpinellifolium accession (BGV016047) with a high density of type IV trichomes (from 9.5 trichomes/mm 2 at 48 days after transplanting, to a maximum median of 118 trichomes/mm 2 ) that could be of great interest for tomato genetic improvement.…”

Discovery of a Major QTL Controlling Trichome IV Density in Tomato Using K-Seq Genotyping

“…S. pimpinellifolium is the closest wild relative of cultivated tomato and a common source of alleles for breeders. However, until now, presence of type IV trichomes has only been described at low densities (<20 trichomes/mm 2 ) [ 28 , 58 , 59 ]. In the present study, we have characterized a S. pimpinellifolium accession (BGV016047) with a high density of type IV trichomes (from 9.5 trichomes/mm 2 at 48 days after transplanting, to a maximum median of 118 trichomes/mm 2 ) that could be of great interest for tomato genetic improvement.…”

“…Additionally, our results contribute to the creation of tomato lines with a higher density of type IV trichomes, and likely higher insect resistance [ 16 ]. Several efforts have been made to develop introgressed lines with type IV trichomes enriched in acylsugars [ 26 , 59 , 61 ]. We found a major QTL that has not been previously reported in S. pimpinellifolium that increases the density of trichomes by a factor of 9 if the alleles are in homozygosis.…”

Utilización de una colección de germoplasma de tomate para la identificación de genes de interés

“…S. pimpinellifolium is the closest wild relative of cultivated tomato and a common source of alleles for breeders. However, until now, presence of type IV trichomes has only been described at low densities (< 20 trichomes/mm 2 ) Rodríguez-López, Moriones, and Fernández-Muñoz 2020). In the present study, we have characterized a S. pimpinellifolium accession (BGV016047) with a high density of type IV trichomes (from 9.5 trichomes/mm 2 at 48 days after transplanting, to a maximum median of 118 trichomes/mm 2 ) that could be of great interest for tomato genetic improvement.…”