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Tomato treatment with chemical inducers reduces the performance of Spodoptera littoralis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

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Abstract

The evolving understanding of plant signaling pathways has promoted the possibility of using chemical inducers as an effective tactic for crop protection. In this study, under greenhouse conditions, we conducted a growth assay of Spodoptera littoralis (Boisduval) larvae on tomato plants treated with BTH (S-methyl benzo [1, 2, 3] thiadiazole 7 carbothioate) as a salicylic acid mimic, PDJ (propyl [1RS, 2RS]-[3-oxo-2-pentylcyclopentyl] acetate) as a jasmonic acid-mimic or both chemicals as a combined treatment. The larval body weight of S. littoralis was drastically reduced with each chemical compared to control plants, and there was a significant synergistic interaction. Overall, the total weight gain of surviving larvae fed on treated plants was distinctly tenfold less than for those fed on control plants. Moreover, incorporating the chemical inducers in artificial diets had no direct or toxic impact on the larval body weight of S. littoralis under laboratory conditions. Larval survival rates were significantly lower (35–40 %) on treated plants with either combined or independent inducers’ treatments compared with control plants after 15-day feeding. In contrast, incorporating the chemical inducers in artificial diets had no direct effect on larval survival rates under laboratory conditions. The applied concentrations of BTH and PDJ had no detectable phytotoxicity to tomato plants. Our results demonstrate that BTH and PDJ can act synergistically when applied to tomato to reduce the performance of S. littoralis. These findings stress that the application of chemical inducers could provide an environment-friendly tactic to help manage insect pests and thereby play multiple roles in improving the overall plant resistance to herbivore pests.

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Acknowledgments

We greatly appreciate the useful comments and constructive remarks of Prof. Stuart Reitz (Oregon State University, USA) on the manuscript. We greatly thank Mohammed Abdel El-Hady and the graduate students (level 4) of the 2011–2012 academic year at the Department of Plant Protection, notably, Sara Mousa and Seham Mohammed, for their assistance in the experimental setup. This work was supported by the Public Service Center for Biological Control (PSCBC), Faculty of Agriculture, Suez Canal University, Egypt.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Public Service Center of Biological Control (PSCBC), Suez Canal University, 41522, Ismailia, Egypt

    Islam S. Sobhy, Nasser S. Mandour & Awad A. Sarhan

  2. Plant–Insect Interactions Group, Institute of Plant Science and Resources, Okayama University, Kurashiki, 710-0046, Japan

    Islam S. Sobhy

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  1. Islam S. Sobhy
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  2. Nasser S. Mandour
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Correspondence to Islam S. Sobhy.

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Sobhy, I.S., Mandour, N.S. & Sarhan, A.A. Tomato treatment with chemical inducers reduces the performance of Spodoptera littoralis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Appl Entomol Zool 50, 175–182 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13355-014-0319-2

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