Natural variation in wild tomato trichomes; selecting metabolites that contribute to insect resistance using a random forest approach.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Plant-produced specialised metabolites are a powerful part of a plant's first line of defence against herbivorous insects, bacteria and fungi. Wild ancestors of present-day cultivated tomato produce a plethora of acylsugars in their type-I/IV trichomes and volatiles in their type-VI trichomes that have a potential role in plant resistance against insects. However, metabolic profiles are often complex mixtures making identification of the functionally interesting metabolites challenging. Here, we aimed to identify specialised metabolites from a wide range of wild tomato genotypes that could explain resistance to vector insects whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) and Western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis). We evaluated plant resistance, determined trichome density and ob

SUBMITTER: Kortbeek RWJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8252294 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature