title: A specialist root herbivore exploits defensive metabolites to locate nutritious tissues.
abstract: The most valuable organs of plants are often particularly rich in essential elements, but also very well defended. This creates a dilemma for herbivores that need to maximise energy intake while minimising intoxication. We investigated how the specialist root herbivore Diabrotica virgifera solves this conundrum when feeding on wild and cultivated maize plants. We found that crown roots of maize seedlings were vital for plant development and, in accordance, were rich in nutritious primary metabolites and contained higher amounts of the insecticidal 2,4-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-1,4-benzoxazin-3-one (DIMBOA) and the phenolic compound chlorogenic acid. The generalist herbivores Diabrotica balteata and Spodoptera littoralis were deterred from feeding on crown roots, whereas the specialist D. virgifera preferred and grew best on these tissues. Using a 1,4-benzoxazin-3-one-deficient maize mutant, we found that D. virgifera is resistant to DIMBOA and other 1,4-benzoxazin-3-ones and that it even hijacks these compounds to optimally forage for nutritious roots.
authors: University of Neuchâtel, Laboratory for Fundamental and Applied Research in Chemical Ecology (FARCE), Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
authors: Christelle A M
authors: CA
authors: Robert
authors: Nathalie
authors: N
authors: Veyrat
authors: Gaétan
authors: G
authors: Glauser
authors: Guillaume
authors: G
authors: Marti
authors: Gwladys R
authors: GR
authors: Doyen
authors: Neil
authors: N
authors: Villard
authors: Mickaël D P
authors: MD
authors: Gaillard
authors: Tobias G
authors: TG
authors: Köllner
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Giron
authors: Mélanie
authors: M
authors: Body
authors: Benjamin A
authors: BA
authors: Babst
authors: Richard A
authors: RA
authors: Ferrieri
authors: Ted C J
authors: TC
authors: Turlings
authors: Matthias
authors: M
authors: Erb
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000502:physiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D009753:Nutritive Value; D010636:Phenols / Q000378:metabolism; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000378:metabolism; D003313:Zea mays / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D010636:Phenols