Metabolite Profiling Reveals a Specific Response in Tomato to Predaceous Chrysoperla carnea Larvae and Herbivore(s)-Predator Interactions with the Generalist Pests Tetranychus urticae and Myzus persicae

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.

The plant growth‐promoting bacterium Kosakonia radicincitans improves fruit yield and quality of Solanum lycopersicum

“…59,60 Fruits obtained from plants infested with the generalist feeding insect Myzus persicae have lower concentrations of certain amino acids, including GABA and hydroxy-proline, whereas L-alanine contents are increased in the presence of predaceous Chrysoperla carnea larvae. 51 These findings are similar to our results in fruits from plants treated with K. radicincitans.…”

“…Amino acid analysis using 10 mg of fruit material from green, orange and red fruits was carried out as described previously. 51 To collect volatiles, stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) devices (GERS-TEL Twisters, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) phase, Gerstel GmbH & Co. KG, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany) were used. This involved mixing 2 mL of juice with 8 mL of 50 mL L −1 methanolic NaCl (saturated) solution.…”

Oviposition inhibitory activity of the Mexican sunflower Tithonia diversifolia (Asteraceae) polar extracts against the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae (Tetranychidae)

“…The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Tetranychidae), is considered as one of the most economically important arthropod pests. This mite has been reported infesting over 1200 species of plants, including cereals, legumes (with special reference to soybean), greenhouse crops, ornamental plants and fruit trees [21,49,53]. The high number of population outbreaks registered for this species are mainly due to its rapid population growth, short developmental time and long adult survival [56].…”

Drought-stressed tomato plants trigger bottom-up effects on key mite pests

“…In tomato, T. urticae infestation down regulates the transcriptional response associated with anabolic processes, including the expression of amino acid catabolizing enzyme genes Wybouw et al, 2015). However, when the effects of T. urticae on free amino acid content in tomato were analyzed, inconsistent results were obtained (Nachappa et al, 2013;Errard et al, 2016). General Introduction │CHAPTER 1…”

“…However, the alteration of plant primary metabolism has been demonstrated to be beneficial for the performance of some herbivores, for example aphids (Sandström et al, 2000;Koyama et al, 2004;Errard et al, 2016). T. urticae has been reported to increase the levels of sucrose on damaged cotton tissue (Schmidt et al, 2009).…”