Tomato plants, Lycopersicon esculentum cv. Castlemart, are generally poor hosts for Two-spotted spider mites, Tetranychus urticae, however mutant tomato plants (jai-1) that are insensitive to jasmonate are readily colonized. In behavioral assays with the mutant and wild type plants, mites were repelled by fruit and plant tissues from the wild type plant but not by the jasmonate insensitive plant. In choice assays mites selected the mutant plant at significantly higher rates than the wild type plant. The jai-1 tomato plant phenotype includes greatly reduced glandular trichomes densities and very low levels of terpene volatiles. In bio-assays we also investigated the potential of the missing terpenes to restore the repellency of the mutant tomato plant.
Species 1: Acari Tetranychidae Tetranychus urticae (twospotted spider mite)
Keywords: jasmonic acid signaling, behavorial assay
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