title: Immune modulation enables a specialist insect to benefit from antibacterial withanolides in its host plant.
abstract: The development of novel plant chemical defenses and counter adaptations by herbivorous insect could continually drive speciation, producing more insect specialists than generalists. One approach to test this hypothesis is to compare closely related generalist and specialist species to reveal the associated costs and benefits of these different adaptive strategies. We use the specialized moth Heliothis subflexa, which feeds exclusively on plants in the genus Physalis, and its close generalist relative H. virescens. Specialization on Physalis plants necessitates the ability to tolerate withanolides, the secondary metabolites of Physalis species that are known to have feeding deterrent and immune inhibiting properties for other insects. Here we find that only H. subflexa benefits from the antibacterial properties of withanolides, and thereby gains a higher tolerance of the pathogen Bacillus thuringiensis. We argue that the specialization in H. subflexa has been guided to a large extent by a unique role of plant chemistry on ecological immunology.
authors: Department of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll-Street 8, 07745 Jena, Germany.
authors: Andrea
authors: A
authors: Barthel
authors: Department of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll-Street 8, 07745 Jena, Germany.
authors: Heiko
authors: 0000-0001-9821-7731
authors: H
authors: Vogel
authors: Department of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll-Street 8, 07745 Jena, Germany.
authors: Yannick
authors: 0000-0002-2918-8946
authors: Y
authors: Pauchet
authors: Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll-Street 8, 07745 Jena, Germany.
authors: Gerhard
authors: G
authors: Pauls
authors: Department of Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll-Street 8, 07745 Jena, Germany.
authors: Grit
authors: G
authors: Kunert
authors: Department of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll-Street 8, 07745 Jena, Germany.|Department of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Sciencepark 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors: Astrid T
authors: AT
authors: Groot
authors: Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll-Street 8, 07745 Jena, Germany.
authors: Wilhelm
authors: W
authors: Boland
authors: Department of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll-Street 8, 07745 Jena, Germany.
authors: David G
authors: DG
authors: Heckel
authors: Department of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll-Street 8, 07745 Jena, Germany.
authors: Hanna M
authors: HM
authors: Heidel-Fischer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001413:Bacillus thuringiensis; D060434:Herbivory; D009036:Moths / Q000276:immunology*; D032321:Physalis / Q000382:microbiology*; D054358:Withanolides / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D054358:Withanolides