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Role of Methyl Salicylate on Oviposition Deterrence in Arabidopsis thaliana

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Abstract

Plants attacked by herbivores have evolved different strategies that fend off their enemies. Insect eggs deposited on leaves have been shown to inhibit further oviposition through visual or chemical cues. In some plant species, the volatile methyl salicylate (MeSA) repels gravid insects but whether it plays the same role in the model species Arabidopsis thaliana is currently unknown. Here we showed that Pieris brassicae butterflies laid fewer eggs on Arabidopsis plants that were next to a MeSA dispenser or on plants with constitutively high MeSA emission than on control plants. Surprisingly, the MeSA biosynthesis mutant bsmt1-1 treated with egg extract was still repellent to butterflies when compared to untreated bsmt1-1. Moreover, the expression of BSMT1 was not enhanced by egg extract treatment but was induced by herbivory. Altogether, these results provide evidence that the deterring activity of eggs on gravid butterflies is independent of MeSA emission in Arabidopsis, and that MeSA might rather serve as a deterrent in plants challenged by feeding larvae.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Blaise Tissot for taking care of the plants. This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation Grant 31003A_149286 and EUROCORES programme EuroVOL to P. R.

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Author notes

  1. Matthias Erb

    Present address: Institute of Plant Sciences, Section Biotic Interactions, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013, Bern, Switzerland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Molecular Biology, Unversity of Lausanne, Biophore Building, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Raphaël Groux, Olivier Hilfiker, Caroline Gouhier-Darimont & Philippe Reymond

  2. Department of Entomology and Acarology, Laboratory of Chemical Ecology and Insect Behavior, Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz”, University of São Paulo, Av. Pádua Dias, 11, CP 09, 13418-900, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil

    Maria Fernanda Gomes Villalba Peñaflor

  3. Laboratory of Fundamental and Applied Research in Chemical Ecology (FARCE), Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Rue Emile-Argand, 11, CP 158, CH-2009, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

    Matthias Erb

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  1. Raphaël Groux
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Correspondence to Philippe Reymond.

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Groux, R., Hilfiker, O., Gouhier-Darimont, C. et al. Role of Methyl Salicylate on Oviposition Deterrence in Arabidopsis thaliana . J Chem Ecol 40, 754–759 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-014-0470-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-014-0470-9

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