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Root nematode infection enhances leaf defense against whitefly in tomato

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Abstract

The foliar response to different herbivores sharing the same hosts is an important topic for the study of plant-insect interactions. Plants evolve local and systemic resistant strategies to cope with herbivores. Many researchers have characterized the mechanisms of leaf responses to insect infestation; however, the fact that roots serve as systemic resistance modulators to leaf herbivores has been widely ignored. Here, we report that tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants infected with southern root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne incognita)—which feed on the roots to form nodules—enhanced leaf defenses against aboveground attackers, specifically, the whitefly (Bemisia tabaci). Our results show that nematode infection reduced the whitefly population abundance because of conferring a stronger SA-dependent defense pathway against whitefly than in tomato plants without nematode infection. Meanwhile, nematode-infected tomato plant also activated the foliar JA-dependent defense pathway at 4 h after whitefly infestation. However, the foliar JA-dependent defense under whitefly infestation alone was suppressed, with the JA content being nearly 30 % lower than that in tomato plants co-infected with nematodes and whiteflies. Furthermore, nematode infection significantly decreased the plant nitrogen concentration in leaves and roots. As a result, nematode infection reduced the number of whiteflies by enhancing foliar SA-dependent defense, activating JA-dependent defense and decreasing nitrogen nutrition. Our results suggest that underground nematode infection significantly enhances the defense ability of tomato plants against whitefly.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported by the National Nature Science Fund of China (no. 31370438) and the R&D Special Fund for Public Welfare Industry (Agriculture 201303019).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, People’s Republic of China

    Honggang Guo & Feng Ge

  2. Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, People’s Republic of China

    Honggang Guo

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  1. Honggang Guo
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Correspondence to Feng Ge.

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Guo, H., Ge, F. Root nematode infection enhances leaf defense against whitefly in tomato. Arthropod-Plant Interactions 11, 23–33 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-016-9462-8

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