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The ventral eversible gland (VEG) of Spodoptera littoralis triggers early responses to herbivory in Arabidopsis thaliana

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Abstract

The ventral eversible gland (VEG) in Lepidopteran larvae was first reported by De Geer in 1745. Secretions from VEG have been associated with defense against predators and the production of anti-aggregation pheromones; however, the role of the VEG in arthropod–plant interactions is still unclear. Here, we show that the ablation of Spodoptera littoralis larvae VEG affects early Arabidopsis thaliana responses to herbivory and insect’s oral secretions (OS). We measured the plasma transmembrane potential (Vm) variation in Arabidopsis mesophyll palisade cells upon feeding by untreated (N) and VEG-ablated (VEGA) S. littoralis larvae. OS from both N and VEGA were collected from larvae feeding on either artificial diet (ADOS) or Arabidopsis green leaves (GLOS) and tested for their ability to affect Vm on intact Arabidopsis leaves. Calcium and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) signaling were also evaluated by confocal laser scanning microscopy by using the fluorescent probes calcium orange and Amplex red, respectively, upon herbivory by N and VEGA, and after application of either ADOS or GLOS from both N and VEGA to Arabidopsis leaves. Ablation of VEG prompted a significant reduction of the Vm depolarization and significantly reduced both cytosolic calcium concentration ([Ca2+]cyt) and H2O2 burst. OS extracted from VEGA larvae showed the same pattern, suggesting that a functional VEG is required for the synthesis of VEG secretions able to induce early responses in the fed plant tissues. These results suggest that VEG might contain elicitors able to trigger early responses (Vm depolarization, [Ca2+]cyt influx and H2O2 burst) of Arabidopsis to S. littoralis herbivory.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank R. Reist from Syngenta Crop. Protection Münchwilen AG, Switzerland, for kindly providing eggs of S. littoralis. This work was partly supported by the Doctorate School of Pharmaceutical and Molecular Sciences (University of Turin). The authors are grateful to C. Brillada for technical assistance during OS extraction.

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  1. Plant Physiology Unit, Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, Innovation Centre, University of Turin, Via Quarello 11/A, 10135, Turin, Italy

    Simon A. Zebelo & Massimo E. Maffei

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  1. Simon A. Zebelo
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  2. Massimo E. Maffei
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Correspondence to Massimo E. Maffei.

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Zebelo, S.A., Maffei, M.E. The ventral eversible gland (VEG) of Spodoptera littoralis triggers early responses to herbivory in Arabidopsis thaliana . Arthropod-Plant Interactions 6, 543–551 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-012-9200-9

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