title: Odor, Not Performance, DictatesBemisia tabaci's Selection between Healthy and Virus Infected Plants.
abstract: Although, insect herbivores are generally thought to select hosts that favor the fitness of their progeny, this "mother-knows-best" hypothesis may be challenged by the presence of a plant virus. Our previous study showed that the whitefly,Bemisia tabaci, the obligate vector for transmittingTomato yellow leaf curl virus(TYLCV), preferred to settle and oviposit on TYLCV-infected rather than healthy host plant,Datura stramonium. The performances ofB. tabacilarvae and adults were indeed improved on virus-infectedD. stramonium, which is consistent with "mother-knows-best" hypothesis. In this study,B. tabaciQ displayed the same preference to settle and oviposit onTomato spotted wilt virus(TSWV)-infected host plants,D. stramoniumandCapsicum annuum, respectively. As a non-vector of TSWV, however, insect performance was impaired since adult body size, longevity, survival, and fecundity were reduced in TSWV infectedD. stramonium. This appears to be an odor-mediated behavior, as plant volatile profiles are modified by viral infection. Infected plants have reduced quantities of o-xylene and α-pinene, and increased levels of phenol and 2-ethyl-1-hexanol in their headspace. Subsequent behavior experiments showed that o-xylene and α-pinene are repellant, while phenol and 2-ethyl-1-hexanol are attractive. This indicates that the preference ofB. tabacifor virus-infected plants is modulated by the dynamic changes in the volatile profiles rather than the subsequent performances on virus-infected plants.
authors.affiliation: College of Plant Protection, Hunan Agricultural UniversityChangsha, China; Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesBeijing, China.
authors.forename: Gong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Insect Sciences, College of Agriculture, Yangtze University Jingzhou, China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiaobin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhengke
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: College of Plant Protection, Hunan Agricultural UniversityChangsha, China; Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesBeijing, China.
authors.forename: Huixin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Baoyun
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Shaoli
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Qingjun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky Lexington, KY, USA.
authors.forename: Xuguo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Youjun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: host preference; mother-knows-best; non-vector insects; performance; plant virus; volatiles