Dataset Information

Host plant adaptation in the polyphagous whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum, is associated with transcriptional plasticity and altered sensitivity to insecticides.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:The glasshouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum, is a damaging crop pest and an invasive generalist capable of feeding on a broad range of host plants. As such this species has evolved mechanisms to circumvent the wide spectrum of anti-herbivore allelochemicals produced by its host range. T. vaporariorum has also demonstrated a remarkable ability to evolve resistance to many of the synthetic insecticides used for control. RESULTS:To gain insight into the molecular mechanisms that underpin the polyphagy of T. vaporariorum and its resistance to natural and synthetic xenobiotics, we sequenced and assembled a reference genome for this species. Curation of genes putatively involved in the detoxification of natural and synthetic xenobiotics revealed a marked reduction in specific gene families between this species and another generalist whitefly, Bemisia tabaci. Transcriptome profiling of T. vaporariorum upon transfer to a range of different host plants revealed profound differences in the transcriptional response to more or less challenging hosts. Large scale changes in gene expression (>?20% of genes) were observed during adaptation to challenging hosts with a range of genes involved in gene regulation, signalling, and detoxification differentially expressed. Remarkably, these changes in gene expression were associated with significant shifts in the tolerance of host-adapted T. vaporariorum lines to natural and synthetic insecticides. CONCLUSIONS:Our findings provide further insights into the ability of polyphagous insects to extensively reprogram gene expression during host adaptation and illustrate the potential implications of this on their sensitivity to synthetic insecticides.

SUBMITTER: Pym A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6923851 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Host plant adaptation in the polyphagous whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum, is associated with transcriptional plasticity and altered sensitivity to insecticides.

Pym Adam A Singh Kumar Saurabh KS Nordgren Åsa Å Davies T G Emyr TGE Zimmer Christoph T CT Elias Jan J Slater Russell R Bass Chris C

BMC genomics 20191219 1

<h4>Background</h4>The glasshouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum, is a damaging crop pest and an invasive generalist capable of feeding on a broad range of host plants. As such this species has evolved mechanisms to circumvent the wide spectrum of anti-herbivore allelochemicals produced by its host range. T. vaporariorum has also demonstrated a remarkable ability to evolve resistance to many of the synthetic insecticides used for control.<h4>Results</h4>To gain insight into the molecular me ...[more]

PMID: 31856729

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Project description:The greenhouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum Westwood (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is a serious pest of many fruits, vegetables and ornamental crops in sub-tropical regions and in greenhouses worldwide. Potato is a secondary host of the species but the major threat from this insect in the Andean region for potato is the transmission by this insect of a crinivirus causing Potato yellow vein disease. Determination of the pest's temperature-dependent population growth potential is crucial knowledge for understanding the population dynamics and spread potential of the species and the diseases it can transmit, as well as for designing effective pest management strategies. Trialeurodes vaporariorum development, mortality and reproduction were studied at seven constant temperatures ranging from 10 to 32 °C. The Insect Life Cycle Modeling (ILCYM) software was used to fit nonlinear equations to the data and establish an overall phenology model to simulate life-table parameters based on temperature. In addition, life tables of T. vaporariorium were established at daily fluctuating temperature in two different environments: Cusco (5 °C-35 °C) and La Molina, Lima (13.7 °C-24.9 °C), and used to adjust and validate the model. The insect only completed its life cycle at constant temperatures above 15 °C and below 32 °C although the cycle was completed at daily fluctuating temperatures between 5 °C and 35 °C. The overall model portrayed population development within the temperature range of 14° to 32 °C with a maximum finite rate of population increase (= 1.14) at 23 °C. However, the model revealed poor convergence with life tables established at fluctuating temperatures indicating an influential effect of temperature fluctuations on the whitefly life history parameters, particularly on adult survival time and reproduction. Therefore, we adjusted the model for convergence with a single life table observed at fluctuating temperature. The adjusted model gave good predictions when compared with remaining observed life tables and published data. The adjusted model predicted population development within the temperature range of 11.5 °C-35.5 °C, and maximum population growth at around 24 °C with a finite rate of increase, λ, of 1.137 and a population doubling time of 5 days. The established process-based physiological model presented here for T. vaporariorum can be used for predicting the species distribution potential based on temperature worldwide and should prove helpful in adjusting pest management measures. Moreover, the information obtained will be used to predict the spread potential of potato yellow vein disease.

Project description:The glasshouse whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum Westwood) is a polyphagous arthropod pest that is of particular detriment to glasshouse grown tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) across temperate regions of the world. Control of whiteflies with synthetic pesticides has resulted in the evolution of resistant genotypes and a reduction in natural enemies, thus highlighting the need for environmentally sound control strategies. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) offer an environmentally benign alternative to synthetic chemical sprays and this study explored the use of VOCs as insect repellents and plant defence elicitors to control whiteflies on tomato in a commercial glasshouse setting. Limonene in the form of a volatile dispenser system was found to successfully repel whitefly from the target crop and increased fruit yield by 32% during a heavy whitefly infestation. Analysis of tomato herbivore induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) led us to select methyl salicylate (MeSA) as the plant elicitor and application of MeSA to un-infested tomato plants was found to successfully reduce whitefly population development and increase yield by 11%, although this difference was marginally statistically significant. Combination of these two methods was also effective but whitefly abundance in combined plots was similar to the standalone limonene treatment across the course of the experiment. All of the VOC based control methods we used had a negative impact on whitefly performance, with more pronounced effects during the first few weeks of infestation. In subsequent laboratory experiments, we found elevated peroxidase (POD) activity and a significant increase in TPX1 and PR1 transcripts in MeSA treated plants. This led us to deduce that MeSA immediately induced plant defences, rather than priming them. We did however see evidence for residual priming, as plants treated with MeSA and infested with whiteflies produced significantly higher levels of POD activity than whitefly infestation alone. Despite the fact that our treatments failed to synergise, our methods can be optimised further, and the effectiveness of the standalone treatments is promising for future studies. In particular, our repellent limonene dispensers were extremely effective at deterring whiteflies and offer a low economic cost and easy to implement whitefly control option. The methods we have used here could be incorporated into current integrated pest management (IPM) systems, a sustainable approach to pest control which will be central to our efforts to manage whitefly populations under glass in the future.

Dataset Information

Host plant adaptation in the polyphagous whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum, is associated with transcriptional plasticity and altered sensitivity to insecticides.

Publications

Host plant adaptation in the polyphagous whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum, is associated with transcriptional plasticity and altered sensitivity to insecticides.

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