Abstract
Jasmonic acid (JA) signalling can influence plant defense and the production of plant volatiles that mediate interactions with insects. Here, we tested whether a JA seed treatment could alter direct and indirect defenses. First, oviposition levels of herbivorous mites, Tetranychus urticae, on JA seed-treated and control tomato plants were compared. They were not significantly different on tomato cv. ‘Moneymaker’, however, there was a significant reduction in oviposition on treated plants in additional experiments with cv. ‘Carousel’. Second, responses of predatory mites, Phytoseiulus persimilis, were assessed in a Y-tube olfactometer. Volatiles from JA seed-treated tomato cv. ‘Moneymaker’ plants were significantly more attractive than volatiles from control plants. Volatiles collected from plants were analysed by GC/MS, and samples from JA seed-treated plants contained more methyl salicylate and (E,E)-4,8,12-trimethyl-1,3,7,11-tridecatetraene (TMTT) than samples from control plants. Our results indicate that JA seed treatment can make tomato plants more attractive to predatory mites, but that direct effects on herbivorous mites are variable and cultivar dependent.
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Acknowledgements
Rothamsted Research receives grant-aided support from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council of the UK. This work was supported by research grant BB/G021791/1. We thank Prof Mike Roberts and his team at Lancaster University for advice about the seed treatment and Dawn Worrall for supplying T. urticae mites to start a culture at Rothamsted.
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Smart, L.E., Martin, J.L., Limpalaër, M. et al. Responses of Herbivore and Predatory Mites to Tomato Plants Exposed to Jasmonic Acid Seed Treatment. J Chem Ecol 39, 1297–1300 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-013-0345-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-013-0345-5