title: Opposing Roles of Foliar and Glandular Trichome Volatile Components in Cultivated Nightshade Interaction with a Specialist Herbivore.
abstract: Plant chemistry is an important contributor to the interaction with herbivores. Here, we report on a previously unknown role for foliar and glandular trichome volatiles in their interaction with the specialist herbivore of solanaceous plants, the tomato red spider mite Tetranychus evansi. We used various bioassays and chemical analyses including coupled gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (LC-QToF-MS) to investigate this interaction between cultivated African nightshades and T. evansi. We show that, whereas morphologically different cultivated African nightshade species released similar foliar volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that attracted T. evansi, VOCs released from exudates of ruptured glandular trichomes of one nightshade species influenced local defense on the leaf surface. VOCs from ruptured glandular trichomes comprising mainly saturated and unsaturated fatty acids deterred T. evansi oviposition. Of the fatty acids, the unsaturated fatty acids accounted for >40% of the oviposition deterrent activity. Our findings point to a defense strategy in a plant, based on opposing roles for volatiles released by foliar and glandular trichomes in response to attack by a specialist herbivore.
authors.affiliation: Behavioral and Chemical Ecology Unit, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi, Kenya.|Department of Horticulture, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Lucy Kananu
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Murungi
authors.affiliation: Behavioral and Chemical Ecology Unit, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Hillary
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kirwa
authors.affiliation: Behavioral and Chemical Ecology Unit, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Daisy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Salifu
authors.affiliation: Behavioral and Chemical Ecology Unit, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Baldwyn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Torto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005227:Fatty Acids; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D060434:Herbivory; D064209:Phytochemicals / Q000737:chemistry; D032322:Solanum / Q000737:chemistry*; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D064201:Trichomes / Q000737:chemistry*; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D064209:Phytochemicals; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds