Abstract
Secondary plant chemistry mediates a variety of communication signals among species, playing a fundamental role in the evolutionary diversification of communities and ecosystems. Herein, we explored diet-mediated host plant effects on development and immune response of a generalist insect herbivore. Vanessa cardui (Nymphalidae) caterpillars were reared on leaves of three host plants that vary in secondary metabolites, Plantago lanceolata (Plantaginaceae), Taraxacum officinale (Asteraceae) and Tithonia diversifolia (Asteraceae). Insect development was evaluated by larval and pupal viabilities, survivorship, and development rate. Immune response was measured as phenoloxidase (PO) activity. Additionally, chemical profiles of the host plants were obtained by liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometry (LC–MS) and the discriminant metabolites were determined using a metabolomic approach. Caterpillars reared on P. lanceolata exhibited the highest larval and pupal viabilities, as well as PO activity, and P. lanceolata leaves were chemically characterized by the presence of iridoid glycosides, phenylpropanoids and flavonoids. Taraxacum officinale leaves were characterized mainly by the presence of phenylpropanoids, flavones O-glycoside and germacranolide-type sesquiterpene lactones; caterpillars reared on this host plant fully developed to the adult stage, however they exhibited lower larval and pupal viabilities compared to individuals reared on P. lanceolata. Conversely, caterpillars reared on T. diversifolia leaves, which contain phenylpropanoids, flavones and diverse furanoheliangolide-type sesquiterpene lactones, were not able to complete larval development and exhibited the lowest PO activity. These findings suggested that V. cardui have adapted to tolerate potentially toxic metabolites occurring in P. lanceolata (iridoid glycosides), however caterpillars were not able to cope with potentially detrimental metabolites occurring in T. diversifolia (furanoheliangolides). Therefore, we suggest that furanoheliangolide-type sesquiterpene lactones were responsible for the poor development and immune response observed for caterpillars reared on T. diversifolia.
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The data sets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the Shared Instruments Laboratory (SIL) of the University of Nevada, Reno and to Dr. Stephen M. Spain and Janina Ruprecht for technical support.
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This work was supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation—FAPESP (grant #2021/07911–5) and a grant from the National Science Foundation DEB 1929522.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Data collection and analyses were performed by MEG. The first draft of the manuscript was written by MEG. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript, as well as read and approved the final manuscript.
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Gallon, M.E., Smilanich, A.M. Effects of Host Plants on Development and Immunity of a Generalist Insect Herbivore. J Chem Ecol 49, 142–154 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-023-01410-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-023-01410-9