Low moisture stress influences plant volatile emissions affecting herbivore interactions in tomato, Solanum lycopersicum

Abstract

1. Frequently changing climatic conditions can cause recurring droughts which often subject plants to tremendous amounts of stress, leaving biologists to wonder about its impact on the associated herbivores and their interactions with host plants. 2. The present study was aimed at assessing the impact of low moisture stress on herbivore‐plant interactions using tomato and its associated herbivores (leaf miner, Tuta absoluta and sap feeder, Bemisia tabaci). 3. The leaf miner T. absoluta preferred tomato plants exposed to moderate drought stress compared to severely drought stressed or healthy plants while the sap feeder B. tabaci preferred healthy tomato plants that were irrigated regularly over others. Our study uncovers few intriguing aspects of low moisture stress on herbivore‐host interactions and also highlights that this influence may vary depending upon the herbivore feeding guild. 4. The volatile profiles of tomato plants were found to differ significantly when subjected to varied degrees of low moisture stress. Such changes in plant's volatile emissions may in turn alter its associated herbivore's behavioural perspective as observed in T. absoluta and B. tabaci. 5. Reduced amounts of caryophyllene, humulene, 3‐carene, myristic acid, and γ‐butyl‐γ‐butyrolactone might be what aids T. absoluta and B. tabaci in gauging the drought stress status of a host plant. Further, the presence of chemical cues such as α‐pinene, m‐cymene, and ethyl benzaldehyde might signal T. absoluta moths of severely stressed plants. Similarly, the presence of undecane, ethyl benzaldehyde, n‐hexadecanoic acid might aid whiteflies in identifying plants reeling under low moisture stress.

Effects of water deficiency on preference and performance of an insect herbivore Ostrinia furnacalis

“…Plants are sessile organisms, and their metabolic capabilities extend far beyond their borders. Particularly, primary and secondary metabolites of plants induced by water stress are closely linked to the emission of plant volatiles (Weldegergis et al ., 2015; Damodaram et al ., 2021), which make phytophagous insects to discriminate among plants on the basis of multiple stimuli, and then select optimal host plants to oviposit (Carrasco et al ., 2015). O. furnacalis females laid more eggs on well-watered plants due to possibly either attractive effects of plant volatile driven by well-watered treatments or repellent effects of plant volatiles induced by water-stressed treatments.…”

Plant defences for enhanced integrated pest management in tomato

“…Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are affected by water limitation in tomato plants, and this influenced the plants' level of attraction for T. absoluta and B. tabaci adults preferring moderately stressed and nonstressed plants, respectively (Pagadala Damodaram et al, 2021).…”

“…Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are affected by water limitation in tomato plants, and this influenced the plants' level of attraction for T. absoluta and B. tabaci adults preferring moderately stressed and nonstressed plants, respectively (Pagadala Damodaram et al, 2021). VOCs can also be altered by temperature as demonstrated by the invasive weed Alternanthera philoxeroides , although this did not influence its attraction for two herbivores (Liu et al, 2021).…”

Effect of Altitude on Volatile Organic and Phenolic Compounds of Artemisia brevifolia Wall ex Dc. From the Western Himalayas

“…Specialized metabolites play a crucial role in survival, helping to ameliorate various stresses and maintaining ecological interactions in the given niche. The presence and concentration of these compounds are also known to be affected by the abiotic environment (Radwan et al, 2017;Kopaczyk et al, 2020;Mahdavi et al, 2020;Pagadala Damodaram et al, 2021;Peron et al, 2021). This study can therefore help us understand how species adapt their specialized metabolite production to cope with harsh environments such as high-altitude cold deserts, and can also shed light on the climate adaptability of such species in highly threatened regions of our planet such as the Himalayas.…”