Broad spectrum insect resistance and metabolites in close relatives of the cultivated tomato

• Published in: Euphytica Vol. 214; no. 3; pp. 46 - 14
• Main Authors: Vosman, Ben, van’t Westende, Wendy P. C., Henken, Betty, van Eekelen, Henriëtte D. L. M., de Vos, Ric C. H., Voorrips, Roeland E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-03-2018; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acyl sugars; Aleyrodidae; Aphid; Bioassays; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Caterpillar; Cultivation; Flavonoids; Fruit cultivation; Insects; Life Sciences; Lycopersicon; Lycopersicon group; Metabolites; Metabolomics; Pests; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Plant Pathology; Plant Physiology; Plant Sciences; Quantitative genetics; Quantitative trait loci; Resistance to control; Sucrose; Sugar; Thrips; Tomatoes; Trichomes; Whitefly; Metabolomics; Flavonoids; Whitefly; Thrips; Caterpillar; Aphid; Acyl sugars; Lycopersicon group
• ISSN: 0014-2336; 1573-5060
• DOI: 10.1007/s10681-018-2124-4

Wild relatives of tomato possess effective means to deal with several pests, among which are a variety of insects. Here we studied the presence of resistance components against
Trialeurodes vaporariorum, Myzus persicae, Frankliniella occidentalis,
and
Spodoptera exigua
in the Lycopersicon group of
Solanum
section
Lycopersicon
by means of bioassays and comprehensive metabolite profiling. Broad spectrum resistance was found in
Solanum galapagense
and a few accessions of
S. pimpinellifolium
. Resistance to the sap sucking insects may be based on the same mechanism, but different from the caterpillar resistance. Large and highly significant differences in the leaf metabolomes were found between
S. galapagense,
containing type IV trichomes, and its closest relative
S. cheesmaniae,
which lacks type IV trichomes. The most evident differences were the relatively high levels of different methylated forms of the flavonoid myricetin and many acyl sucrose structures in
S. galapagense
. Possible candidate genes regulating the production of these compounds were identified in the
Wf
-
1
QTL region of
S. galapagense
, which was previously shown to confer resistance to the whitefly
B. tabaci.
The broad spectrum insect resistance identified in
S. galapagense
will be very useful to increase resistance in cultivated tomato.