Abstract
It is known that plants can defend themselves indirectly against herbivores by emitting volatile compounds that attract the herbivores' natural carnivorous enemies. To clarify whether or not Lotus japonicus has an indirect defense mechanism against spider mites, Tetranychus urticae, we investigated the responses of predatory mites, Phytoseiulus persimilis, to volatile compounds released from T. urticae-infested L. japonicus in a Y-tube olfactometer. Plants infested with spider mites attracted more P. persimilis than did clean air. Uninfested plants and artificially damaged plants did not attract P. persimilis. When infested by spider mites, L. japonicus plants started emitting (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate, (E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene, germacrene d, 1-octen-3-ol and methyl salicylate (MeSA). These compounds were considered to be T. urticae-induced plant volatile compounds. When three L. japonicus mutants deficient in nodule organogenesis were infested by the spider mites, they all attracted P. persimilis. However, two of the infested mutants emitted blends of induced volatile compounds that were qualitatively different from those emitted from infested wild type L. japonicus.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 427-433 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Journal of Plant Research |
| Volume | 113 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2000 |
Keywords
- Herbivore-induced volatile compounds
- Lotus japonicus
- Predatory mites, Phytoseiulus persimilis
- Spider mites, Tetranychus urticae
- Tritrophic interactions