Can Plant Defence Mechanisms Provide New Approaches for the Sustainable Control of the Two-Spotted Spider Mite Tetranychus urticae?

Abstract

Tetranychus urticae (T. urticae) Koch is a cosmopolitan, polyphagous mite which causes economic losses in both agricultural and ornamental plants. Some traits of T. urticae hamper its management, including a short life cycle, arrhenotokous parthenogenesis, its haplodiploid sex determination system, and its extraordinary ability to adapt to different hosts and environmental conditions. Currently, the use of chemical and biological control are the major control methods used against this mite. In recent years, some studies have focused on plant defence mechanisms against herbivores. Various families of plant compounds (such as flavonoids, glucosinolates, or acyl sugars) have been shown to behave as acaricides. Plants can be induced upon appropriate stimuli to increase their resistance against spider mites. This knowledge, together with the understanding of mechanisms by which T. urticae detoxifies and adapts to pesticides, may complement the control of this pest. Herein, we describe plant volatile compounds (VOCs) with repellent activity, and new findings about defence priming against spider mites, which interfere with the T. urticae performance. The use of VOCs and defence priming can be integrated into current management practices and reduce the damage caused by T. urticae in the field by implementing new, more sustainable crop management tools.

Plant Defenses Against Tetranychus urticae: Mind the Gaps

“…Biological control of spider mites through natural predators is a useful practice in closed greenhouses but not in open fields. Unfortunately, up to now, there are no plant cultivars with resistance to spider mites [21,22].…”

Àcars en cítrics: defensa de les plantes i interacció del microbioma

“…Els àcars fitòfags poden esdevenir plagues molt importants que afecten un ampli rang de cultius agrícoles en el món (Simon et al 2011;Agut et al 2018) (Agut et al 2014). Tal com mostra la figura 1.2, la preferència és el mandariner Cleòpatra que a més a més, tindrà més quantitat de presa i açò li proporciona un avantatge a la pròpia planta ja que el depredador preferirà alimentar-se de presa en lloc de picar planta.…”

“…Alguns àcars fitòfags poden esdevenir plagues importants que afecten un ampli rang de cultius (Simon et al 2011;Agut et al 2018), provocant greus danys si les seues densitats no es mantenen per baix dels llindars econòmics de danys. Destaquen les famílies dels Tetranychidae, Tenuipalpidae, Tarsonemidae i Eriophyidae, que poden causar perjudicis ja siga per alimentació directa o per transmissió de patògens (van Leeuwen et al 2015).…”

“…Likewise, the JA-pathway was induced and could be related to resistance in tomato (Grinberg-Yaari et al 2015). Compared to these poorly known mechanisms for P. latus, the two-spotted mite Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) is probably the best characterized mite in terms of its interactions with the plant (Agut et al 2018).…”

“…In addition to JA, SA-mediated signaling is also activated in some plant-herbivore interactions. Although both hormones can be induced following mite attack, they play different roles in the plant-mite interactions (Agut et al 2018). Metabolic and genetic responses of citrus to T. urticae were characterized by Agut et al (2014Agut et al ( , 2015.…”