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Volatile Organic Compounds Induced by Herbivory of the Soybean Looper Chrysodeixis includens in Transgenic Glyphosate-Resistant Soybean and the Behavioral Effect on the Parasitoid, Meteorus rubens

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Abstract

Transgenic soybean plants (RR) engineered to express resistance to glyphosate harbor a variant of the enzyme EPSPS (5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase) involved in the shikimic acid pathway, the biosynthetic route of three aromatic amino acids: phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan. The insertion of the variant enzyme CP4 EPSPS confers resistance to glyphosate. During the process of genetic engineering, unintended secondary effects are likely to occur. In the present study, we quantified volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted constitutively or induced in response to herbivory by the soybean looper Chrysodeixis includens in transgenic soybean and its isogenic (untransformed) line. Since herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) are known to play a role in the recruitment of natural enemies, we assessed whether changes in VOC profiles alter the foraging behavior of the generalist endoparasitic larval parasitoid, Meteorus rubens in the transgenic line. Additionally, we assessed whether there was a difference in plant quality by measuring the weight gain of the soybean looper. In response to herbivory, several VOCs were induced in both the conventional and the transgenic line; however, larger quantities of a few compounds were emitted by transgenic plants. Meteorus rubens females were able to discriminate between the odors of undamaged and C. includens-damaged plants in both lines, but preferred the odors emitted by herbivore-damaged transgenic plants over those emitted by herbivore-damaged conventional soybean plants. No differences were observed in the weight gain of the soybean looper. Our results suggest that VOC-mediated tritrophic interactions in this model system are not negatively affected. However, as the preference of the wasps shifted towards damaged transgenic plants, the results also suggest that genetic modification affects that tritrophic interactions in multiple ways in this model system.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Marco Antonio Root de Oliveira and Mrs. Franciele Bebber from COODETEC-Cascavel who provided us with the seed material; Dr. Eduardo Shimbori (Universidade Federal de São Carlos) and Dr. Helmuth Aguirre (University of Wyoming, Laramie) for identification of M. rubens; Prof. Leandro S. Souto for support in the statistical analyses, and Profs. Jeffrey Aldrich and Martin Pareja for improving the draft version of the manuscript. Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico CNPq Processo N° 401928/2012-8, Coordenacão de Pessoal de Aperfeiçoamento de Nível Superior (CAPES), and Instituto Nacional de Ciências e Tecnologia de Semioquímicos na Agricultura (INCT) are acknowledged for financial support.

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  1. Delia M. Pinto-Zevallos

    Present address: Laboratório de Ecologia Química, Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Marechal Rondon, s/n - Jardim Rosa Elze, CEP, São Cristóvão, SE, 49100-000, Brazil

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Semioquímicos, Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Paraná, P.O. Box 19081, C.E.P. 81531-980, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil

    Priscila Strapasson, Delia M. Pinto-Zevallos, Sandra M. Da Silva Gomes & Paulo H. G. Zarbin

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  1. Priscila Strapasson
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Correspondence to Paulo H. G. Zarbin.

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Strapasson, P., Pinto-Zevallos, D.M., Da Silva Gomes, S.M. et al. Volatile Organic Compounds Induced by Herbivory of the Soybean Looper Chrysodeixis includens in Transgenic Glyphosate-Resistant Soybean and the Behavioral Effect on the Parasitoid, Meteorus rubens . J Chem Ecol 42, 806–813 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-016-0740-9

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