Insect eggs trigger systemic acquired resistance against a fungal and an oomycete pathogen

Esteban Alfonso, Elia Stahl, Gaétan Glauser, Etienne Bellani, Tom M. Raaymakers, Guido Van den Ackerveken, Jürgen Zeier, Philippe Reymond*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Plants are able to detect insect eggs deposited on leaves. In Arabidopsis, eggs of the butterfly species Pieris brassicae (common name large white) induce plant defenses and activate the salicylic acid (SA) pathway. We previously discovered that oviposition triggers a systemic acquired resistance (SAR) against the bacterial hemibiotroph pathogen Pseudomonas syringae. Here, we show that insect eggs or treatment with egg extract (EE) induce SAR against the fungal necrotroph Botrytis cinerea BMM and the oomycete pathogen Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis Noco2. This response is abolished in ics1, ald1 and fmo1, indicating that the SA pathway and the N-hydroxypipecolic acid (NHP) pathway are involved. Establishment of EE-induced SAR in distal leaves potentially involves tryptophan-derived metabolites, including camalexin. Indeed, SAR is abolished in the biosynthesis mutants cyp79B2 cyp79B3, cyp71a12 cyp71a13 and pad3-1, and camalexin is toxic to B. cinerea in vitro. This study reveals an interesting mechanism by which lepidopteran eggs interfere with plant–pathogen interactions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2491-2505
Number of pages15
JournalNew Phytologist
Volume232
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2021

Keywords

  • Botrytis cinerea
  • herbivore interactions
  • indolic metabolism
  • insect eggs
  • Pieris brassicae
  • plant
  • systemic acquired resistance (SAR)

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