Induced resistance to the two-spotted mite Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari, Tetranychidae) in strawberry plants / Resistência induzida ao ácaro rajado Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) em morangueiro

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2008

RESUMO

Plants previously attacked by herbivores may have their defense system activated. The defense forms may occur by different routes. Some of the unleashed routes take place right after the herbivory, when the plant starts responding in an indirect way through the production of volatile substances attractive to natural enemies of the infesting phytophagous. Another route would be the direct response from the plant through the synthesis of proteinase inhibitors produced post-injury, which can affect the development and growth of the infesting phytophagous. The plants can present specificity in the induced responses, that is, the defenses may intimidate a subsequent herbivory; however, in some cases the re- infesting species do not have their performance affected. Recent studies have shown resistance mechanisms in plants of commercial interest against the attack of pests. Strawberry plants which are cultivated in large scale in Brazil have suffered serious damage by the two spotted mite Tetranychus urticae, which is a primary pest for the culture. Therefore, the present study had as an aim to study induced direct resistance in strawberry plants (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) upon the population dynamics of the two-spotted mite T. urticae. In the experimental studies clean strawberry plants (control), plants that were mechanically injured as well as plants pre-infected with the two-spotted mite T. urticae were used. In order to determine the proteinase inhibitors, samples of each treatment were used. Based on these methods, in test 1 the hypothesis that the pre-infestation of T. urticae would induce the production of proteinase inhibitors reducing the population growth of their co-specifics was tested. In test 2, the specificity of the defensive compounds was studied, testing then the hypothesis that the pre- infestation of T. urticae would induce the production of proteinase inhibitors which would affect the development of red mite Tetranychus mexicanus, a species of spider mite that also occur in strawberry plants. In test 3, the hypothesis that the infestation by T. urticae in the mother strawberry plants would induce the production of proteinase inhibitors and these would be translocated through stolons unt il the strawberry runners injuring the development of T. urticae in these daughter plants was tested. According to the results a smaller number of individuals of T. urticae were found in plants previously infected with the co-specific. The spider mite T. mexicanus did not have its development affected by the induced response due to the pre-infestation of T. urticae. The plant response had contrasting effect to T. mexicanus, apparently the induced defenses in strawberry plants do not act in reinfestations of hetero-specifics, ate least for T. mexicanus. The population growth of T. urticae was also smaller in the strawberry runners of strawberry plants. The induced defense by T. urticae in mother strawberry plants presented systemic defense signals through the stolon, affecting the performance of the phytophagous of the strawberry runners. In the results of the concentrations of proteinase inhibitors, one could verify that they varied among the treatments in the experiments, but were not correlated to phytophagous performance. Possibly, other phytochemicals compounds produced by the plants might be involved in the induced responses by T. urticae. These results support the hypothesis that the plants that present direct defense can reduce the performance of co-specific phytophagous in the following generation.

ASSUNTO(S)

inibidor de protease plant resistance tetranychus urticae resistência de plantas tetranychus urticae proteinase inhibitors entomologia agricola

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