Tissue-specific regulation of volatile emissions moves predators from flowers to attacked leaves

• Published in: Current biology 2023-06, Vol.33 (11), p.2321-2329.e5
• Main Authors: Munawar, Asim, Xu, Yi, Abou El-Ela, Amr S., Zhang, Yadong, Zhong, Jian, Mao, Zhiyao, Chen, Xuan, Guo, Han, Zhang, Chao, Sun, Yiqiao, Zhu, Zengrong, Baldwin, Ian T., Zhou, Wenwu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; flower; Flowers; jasmonic acid; Mites - physiology; Neoseiulus californicus; phytohormone; Plant Leaves; plant volatile organic compounds; potato; Predatory Behavior - physiology; salicylic acid; Solanum kurtzianum; Solanum tuberosum; Tetranychidae - physiology; Tetranychus urticae; Volatile Organic Compounds
• ISSN: 0960-9822; 1879-0445
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.074

Plant-predator mutualisms have been widely described in nature.1,2 How plants fine-tune their mutualistic interactions with the predators they recruit remains poorly understood. In the wild potato (Solanum kurtzianum), predatory mites, Neoseiulus californicus, are recruited to flowers of undamaged plants but rapidly move downward when the herbivorous mites, Tetranychus urticae, damage leaves. This “up-down” movement within the plant corresponds to the shift of N. californicus from palynivory to carnivory, as they change from feeding on pollen to herbivores when moving between different plant organs. This up-down movement of N. californicus is mediated by the organ-specific emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in flowers and herbivory-elicited leaves. Experiments with exogenous applications, biosynthetic inhibitors, and transient RNAi revealed that salicylic acid and jasmonic acid signaling in flowers and leaves mediates both the changes in VOC emissions and the up-down movement of N. californicus. This alternating communication between flowers and leaves mediated by organ-specific VOC emissions was also found in a cultivated variety of potato, suggesting the agronomic potential of using flowers as reservoirs of natural enemies in the control of potato pests. [Display omitted] •Within-plant up-down movement switches predators from palynivory to carnivory•Movement of predators is mediated by organ-specific emissions of plant volatiles•Organ-specific emissions of plant volatiles are mediated by JA and SA signaling Zhou et al. observe that the within-plant “up-down” movement of predatory mites on wild potato plants switches their feeding behavior from palynivory to carnivory. This movement behavior is mediated by the organ-specific emissions of volatile organic compounds in flowers and herbivory-elicited leaves.