Impact of generalist predators on tomato inducible defenses

We examined the potential impact of generalist predators commonly found in tomato crop fields on the inducton of the anti-herbivory defenses in tomato. Each predator was clip-caged for 24 hours on the youngest leaf of a 4-week-old tomato plant, after which the relative expression of a selection of defense genes associated to the jasmonic acid and ethylene pathways was quantified by RT-PCR. We tested 5 predaceous species from 3 different Orders (Hemiptera, Coccinellidae and Neuroptera). The effect of both immature and mature stages was investigated.