Tetranychus evansi spider mite populations suppress tomato defenses to varying degrees

Abstract Plant defense suppression is an offensive strategy of herbivores, in which they manipulate plant physiological processes to increase their performance. Paradoxically, defense suppression does not always benefit the defense‐suppressing herbivores, because lowered plant defenses can also enha...

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Main Authors: Bram Knegt, Tomas T. Meijer, Merijn R. Kant, E. Toby Kiers, Martijn Egas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2020-05-01
Series:Ecology and Evolution
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6204
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author Bram Knegt
Tomas T. Meijer
Merijn R. Kant
E. Toby Kiers
Martijn Egas
author_facet Bram Knegt
Tomas T. Meijer
Merijn R. Kant
E. Toby Kiers
Martijn Egas
author_sort Bram Knegt
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Plant defense suppression is an offensive strategy of herbivores, in which they manipulate plant physiological processes to increase their performance. Paradoxically, defense suppression does not always benefit the defense‐suppressing herbivores, because lowered plant defenses can also enhance the performance of competing herbivores and can expose herbivores to increased predation. Suppression of plant defense may therefore entail considerable ecological costs depending on the presence of competitors and natural enemies in a community. Hence, we hypothesize that the optimal magnitude of suppression differs among locations. To investigate this, we studied defense suppression across populations of Tetranychus evansi spider mites, a herbivore from South America that is an invasive pest of solanaceous plants including cultivated tomato, Solanum lycopersicum, in other parts of the world. We measured the level of expression of defense marker genes in tomato plants after infestation with mites from eleven different T. evansi populations. These populations were chosen across a range of native (South American) and non‐native (other continents) environments and from different host plant species. We found significant variation at three out of four defense marker genes, demonstrating that T. evansi populations suppress jasmonic acid‐ and salicylic acid‐dependent plant signaling pathways to varying degrees. While we found no indication that this variation in defense suppression was explained by differences in host plant species, invasive populations tended to suppress plant defense to a smaller extent than native populations. This may reflect either the genetic lineage of T. evansi—as all invasive populations we studied belong to one linage and both native populations to another—or the absence of specialized natural enemies in invasive T. evansi populations.
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spelling doaj.art-6b4f553f78614defb2eaee58b1a4b08c2022-12-21T21:33:30ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582020-05-0110104375439010.1002/ece3.6204Tetranychus evansi spider mite populations suppress tomato defenses to varying degreesBram Knegt0Tomas T. Meijer1Merijn R. Kant2E. Toby Kiers3Martijn Egas4Department of Evolutionary and Population Biology Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics University of Amsterdam Amsterdam The NetherlandsDepartment of Evolutionary and Population Biology Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics University of Amsterdam Amsterdam The NetherlandsDepartment of Evolutionary and Population Biology Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics University of Amsterdam Amsterdam The NetherlandsDepartment of Ecological Science VU University Amsterdam The NetherlandsDepartment of Evolutionary and Population Biology Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics University of Amsterdam Amsterdam The NetherlandsAbstract Plant defense suppression is an offensive strategy of herbivores, in which they manipulate plant physiological processes to increase their performance. Paradoxically, defense suppression does not always benefit the defense‐suppressing herbivores, because lowered plant defenses can also enhance the performance of competing herbivores and can expose herbivores to increased predation. Suppression of plant defense may therefore entail considerable ecological costs depending on the presence of competitors and natural enemies in a community. Hence, we hypothesize that the optimal magnitude of suppression differs among locations. To investigate this, we studied defense suppression across populations of Tetranychus evansi spider mites, a herbivore from South America that is an invasive pest of solanaceous plants including cultivated tomato, Solanum lycopersicum, in other parts of the world. We measured the level of expression of defense marker genes in tomato plants after infestation with mites from eleven different T. evansi populations. These populations were chosen across a range of native (South American) and non‐native (other continents) environments and from different host plant species. We found significant variation at three out of four defense marker genes, demonstrating that T. evansi populations suppress jasmonic acid‐ and salicylic acid‐dependent plant signaling pathways to varying degrees. While we found no indication that this variation in defense suppression was explained by differences in host plant species, invasive populations tended to suppress plant defense to a smaller extent than native populations. This may reflect either the genetic lineage of T. evansi—as all invasive populations we studied belong to one linage and both native populations to another—or the absence of specialized natural enemies in invasive T. evansi populations.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6204biotic interactionsherbivore offenseintraspecific variationjasmonate reporterPlant–herbivore interactionsSolanum lycopersicum
spellingShingle Bram Knegt
Tomas T. Meijer
Merijn R. Kant
E. Toby Kiers
Martijn Egas
Tetranychus evansi spider mite populations suppress tomato defenses to varying degrees
Ecology and Evolution
biotic interactions
herbivore offense
intraspecific variation
jasmonate reporter
Plant–herbivore interactions
Solanum lycopersicum
title Tetranychus evansi spider mite populations suppress tomato defenses to varying degrees
title_full Tetranychus evansi spider mite populations suppress tomato defenses to varying degrees
title_fullStr Tetranychus evansi spider mite populations suppress tomato defenses to varying degrees
title_full_unstemmed Tetranychus evansi spider mite populations suppress tomato defenses to varying degrees
title_short Tetranychus evansi spider mite populations suppress tomato defenses to varying degrees
title_sort tetranychus evansi spider mite populations suppress tomato defenses to varying degrees
topic biotic interactions
herbivore offense
intraspecific variation
jasmonate reporter
Plant–herbivore interactions
Solanum lycopersicum
url https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6204
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