Project name: Eliciting plant defenses by exposition to HIPV’s: a new sustainable approach to manage agricultural pests

Description: Plants communicate with each other using specific volatiles to warn of attacks and thus are able to activate defense mechanisms that make them more robust against external aggressions. In this research, we have activated defense responses of tomato plants by exposing them to two synthetic Herbivore Induced Plant Volatiles (HIPVs): (Z)-3-hexenyl propanoate (HP) [(Z)-3-HP] and methyl salicylate (MeSA). Tomato plants induced by both volatiles turned out to be less attractive to key tomato pests such as Bemisia tabaci and Tuta absoluta and more attractive to natural enemies. Under semi-field conditions the (Z)-3-HP-mediated activation reduced the subsequent attack of Tetranychus urticae and T. absoluta to less than half. With this knowledge, dispensers to release (Z)-3-HP under field conditions were designed and calibrated. The use of these selected dispensers in commercial tomato greenhouses maintained defensively activated plants and reduced the impact of T. absoluta by almost 60%. Metabolomics analysis indicated increased production of fatty acid-derived compounds in treated leaves, consistent with the activation of the lipoxygenase pathway. Plants elicited with (Z)-3-HP and MeSA also accumulated specific defense compounds like glykoalkaloids and phenylpropanoids. Transcriptomic profiling confirmed the activation of transcripts involve in defense (ie. proteinase inhibitors) and specialized defense metabolism. Our work demonstrates for the first time under real field conditions how the use of HIPVs as elicitors of plant defenses can be successfully integrated as a new biorational and sustainable tool within pest management programs.Overall design: Examine the different gene expression profiles of tomato plants exposed to two volatiles during 24h, (Z)-3-hexenyl propanoate and methyl salicylate, and in non-exposed plants.

Data type: Transcriptome or Gene expression

Sample scope: Multiisolate

Relevance: Agricultural

Last updated: 2020-05-15