Specific volatiles of tea plants determine the host preference behavior of Empoasca onukii

Feng Chen; Peng Huang; Jun Wang; Wei Wu; Yong-Wen Lin; Jin-Feng Hu; Xin-Gang Liu

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1239237

Specific volatiles of tea plants determine the host preference behavior of Empoasca onukii

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Aug 31:14:1239237. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1239237. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Feng Chen¹, Peng Huang¹, Jun Wang¹, Wei Wu¹, Yong-Wen Lin², Jin-Feng Hu¹, Xin-Gang Liu³

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Plant Protection, Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Fujian Key Laboratory for Monitoring and Integrated Management of Crop Pests/ Fujian Engineering Research Center for Green Pest Management, Fuzhou, China.
² College of Food Engineering, Zhangzhou Institute of Technology, Zhangzhou Institute of Technology, Zhangzhou, China.
³ Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Empoasca onukii is a major pest that attacks tea plants. To seek effective and sustainable methods to control the pest, it is necessary to assess its host preference among different species of tea and understand the critical factors behind this behavior. In this study, the behavioral preference of E. onukii for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of three potted tea species was evaluated. The VOCs released by the three tea species were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and the major components were used to test the pest's preference. Transcriptome analysis was used to infer the key genes that affect the biosyntheses of the VOCs. The results showed that the tendency of E. onukii toward the VOCs of the three tea species was the strongest in green tea, followed by white tea, and the weakest in red tea. This behavioral preference was significantly and positively correlated with the relative levels of hexanol, linalool, and geraniol in tea volatiles. Relative hexanol was significantly and positively correlated with the expression of genes TEA009423 (LOX2.1), TEA009596 (LOX1.5), TEA008699 (HPL), TEA018669 (CYPADH), and TEA015686 (ADHIII). Relative linalool was significantly and positively correlated with the expression of genes TEA001435 (CAD) and Camellia_sinensis_newGene_22126 (TPS). Relative geraniol was significantly and positively correlated with the expression of genes TEA001435 (CAD), TEA002658 (CYP76B6), TEA025455 (CYP76T24), and Camellia_sinensis_newGene_22126 (TPS). The above findings suggested that three volatiles (hexanol, linalool, and geraniol) determined the behavioral preference of E. onukii toward tea plants, and their biosynthesis was mainly affected by nine genes (TEA009423, TEA009596, TEA008699, TEA018669, TEA015686, TEA001435, TEA002658, TEA025455, and Camellia_sinensis_newGene_22126).

Keywords: Camellia sinensis; Empoasca onukii; VOC synthesis-related genes; behavioral preference; volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Grants and funding

This study was financially supported by the Special Fund for Agro-Scientific Research in the Public Interest of Fujian Province (2022R1024003). “5511” Collaborative Innovation Project of High-quality Agricultural Development and Surpassment in Fujian Province (XTCXGC2021011, XTCXGC2021017).