Cultivar-Specific Defense Responses in Wild and Cultivated Squash Induced by Belowground and Aboveground Herbivory.

ABSTRACT: Plant domestication often alters plant traits, including chemical and physical defenses against herbivores. In squash, domestication leads to reduced levels of cucurbitacins and leaf trichomes, influencing interactions with insects. However, the impact of domestication on inducible defenses in squash remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the chemical and physical defensive traits of wild and domesticated squash (Cucurbita argyrosperma), and compared their responses to belowground and aboveground infestation by the root-feeding larvae and the leaf-chewing adults of the banded cucumber beetle Diabrotica balteata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Wild populations contained cucurbitacins in roots and cotyledons but not in leaves, whereas domesticated varieties lacked cucurbitacins in all

SUBMITTER: Ye W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11543723 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature