Rapid specialization of counter defenses enables two-spotted spider mite to adapt to novel plant hosts.

ABSTRACT: Genetic adaptation, occurring over a long evolutionary time, enables host-specialized herbivores to develop novel resistance traits and to efficiently counteract the defenses of a narrow range of host plants. In contrast, physiological acclimation, leading to the suppression and/or detoxification of host defenses, is hypothesized to enable broad generalists to shift between plant hosts. However, the host adaptation mechanisms used by generalists composed of host-adapted populations are not known. Two-spotted spider mite (TSSM; Tetranychus urticae) is an extreme generalist herbivore whose individual populations perform well only on a subset of potential hosts. We combined experimental evolution, Arabidopsis thaliana genetics, mite reverse genetics, and pharmacological approaches to examine

SUBMITTER: Salehipourshirazi G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8644343 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature