Tomato Defense against Whiteflies under Drought Stress: Non-Additive Effects and Cultivar-Specific Responses.

ABSTRACT: Two of the main causes of losses in tomato production are the greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), and drought, which is becoming a central problem in agriculture due to global climate change. The separate effects of whitefly infestation and drought have been amply studied in many crop systems. However, less is known about their combined effects. To evaluate whether drought stress (DS) affects plant defense against whiteflies, we assessed the joint effects of whitefly infestation and DS on plant vegetative and reproductive performance in four tomato cultivars, and assessed the effects of DS on plant resistance and tolerance (compensatory ability) to whiteflies in a greenhouse experiment. Generally, we found negative effects of DS and whiteflies on

SUBMITTER: Gonzalez-Klenner FJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9030952 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature