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

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 105; no. 12; pp. 4553 - 4558
• Main Authors: Bruce, Toby J.A, Matthes, Michaela C, Chamberlain, Keith, Woodcock, Christine M, Mohib, Abdul, Webster, Ben, Smart, Lesley E, Birkett, Michael A, Pickett, John A, Napier, Johnathan A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences 25-03-2008; National Acad Sciences
• Series: Chemical Ecology Special Feature
• Subjects: Animals; Aphididae; Aphidius ervi; Aphids - drug effects; Aphids - physiology; Arabidopsis - drug effects; Arabidopsis - genetics; Arabidopsis - parasitology; Arabidopsis Proteins - genetics; Arabidopsis Proteins - metabolism; Arabidopsis thaliana; Bioassay; Biological Assay; Biological Sciences; Blotting, Northern; Brassicaceae; Chemical ecology; Chemical Ecology Special Feature; Chromatography, Gas; cis-jasmone; Cyclopentanes - pharmacology; cytochrome P-450; Diaeretiella rapae; Ecology; Ecosystem; Feeding Behavior; Flowers & plants; Foraging; Gene expression; gene expression regulation; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant - drug effects; gene induction; Genes; Genes, Plant; Host-Parasite Interactions - drug effects; Insect behavior; Insect genetics; Insect pests; Insects; Lipaphis erysimi; messenger RNA; Metabolism; Myzus persicae; Oxylipins - pharmacology; Parasites; Parasites - drug effects; Parasites - physiology; Parasitoids; Phytophagous insects; plant-insect relations; Plants; resistance mechanisms; RNA, Messenger - genetics; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; transcriptome; transgenic plants; Trophic relationships; volatile compounds
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0710305105

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.