cis -Jasmone induces Arabidopsis genes that affect the chemical ecology of multitrophic interactions with aphids and their parasitoids

Abstract

It is of adaptive value for a plant to prepare its defenses when a threat is detected, and certain plant volatiles associated with insect damage, such as cis-jasmone (CJ), are known to switch-on defense metabolism. We used aphid and aphid parasitoid responses to Arabidopsis thaliana as a model system for studying gene expression and defense chemistry and its impact at different trophic levels. Differential responses to volatiles of induced Arabidopsis occurred for specialist and generalist insects: the generalist aphid, Myzus persicae, was repelled, whereas the specialist, Lipaphis erysimi, was attracted; the generalist aphid parasitoid Aphidius ervi was attracted, but the specialist parasitoid Diaeretiella rapae was not affected. A. ervi also spent longer foraging on induced plants than on untreated ones. Transcriptomic analyses of CJ-induced Arabidopsis plants revealed that a limited number of genes, including a gene for a cytochrome P450, CYP81D11, were strongly up-regulated in the treated plants. We examined transgenic Arabidopsis lines constitutively overexpressing this gene in bioassays and found insect responses similar to those obtained for wild-type plants induced with CJ, indicating the importance of this gene in the CJ-activated defense response. Genes involved in glucosinolate biosynthesis and catabolism are unaffected by CJ and, because these genes relate to interactions with herbivores and parasitoids specific to this family of plants (Brassicaceae), this finding may explain the differences in behavioral response of specialist and generalist insects.

Prohydrojasmon treatment of lima bean plants reduces the performance of two-spotted spider mites and induces volatiles

“…Application of methyl jasmonate, methyl linolenate (MeLin, a precursor of JA), and cisjasmone also attracts natural enemies by inducing volatile production (e.g. Ozawa et al 2004Ozawa et al , 2008Bruce et al 2008). Furthermore, herbivore performance is negatively affected by JA and cis-jasmone treatments (e.g.…”

Loss of Function of FATTY ACID DESATURASE7 in Tomato Enhances Basal Aphid Resistance in a Salicylate-Dependent Manner

“…Aphids can in some cases upregulate genes associated with JA signaling (Thompson and Goggin, 2006;Gao et al, 2007;Kusnierczyk et al, 2007;Kuśnierczyk et al, 2008), and several studies suggest that JA-dependent defenses hinder aphid infestation. Artificial JA treatment enhances aphid resistance in several plant species (Omer et al, 2001;Bruce et al, 2003Bruce et al, , 2008Zhu-Salzman et al, 2004;Cooper and Goggin, 2005); furthermore, aphid population growth on Arabidopsis is enhanced by the coi1 mutation, which inhibits JA perception, and is suppressed by the cev1 mutation, which promotes constitutive JA and ethylene signaling (Ellis et al, 2002;Mewis et al, 2005). On the other hand, there is evidence that SA also contributes to plant defenses against aphids, in contrast to its putative role as a decoy response in interactions between whiteflies and Arabidopsis.…”

Methyl Jasmonate Affects Population Densities of Phytophagous and Entomophagous Insects in Wheat

“…For example, in wind tunnel studies, A. ervi was attracted to vapor exposure of CJ-treated Vicia faba plants (Birkett et al, 2000). Moreover, plant defenses induced by CJ in Arabidopsis attracted A. ervi, a generalist aphid parasitoid, but had no influence on Diaeretiella rapae, a specialist aphid parasitoid (Bruce et al, 2008 (2012) found that HIPVs released from CJ-applied Capsicum annum plants were preferred by A. ervi and encouraged its foraging time. To our knowledge, the present study is the first report of aphid parasitoid responses to MEJA under field conditions.…”