J Integr Plant Biol. ›› 2024, Vol. 66 ›› Issue (11): 2528-2542.DOI: 10.1111/jipb.13763  cstr: 32098.14.jipb.13763

• Plant Biotic Interactions • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The plant terpenes DMNT and TMTT function as signaling compounds that attract Asian corn borer (Ostrinia furnacalis) to maize plants

Mengjie Zhao1,2†, Shijie Huang1,2†, Qingyang Zhang1,2†, Yuming Wei3, Zhen Tao1,2, Chuanhong Wang1,2, Yibing Zhao1,2, Xinqiao Zhang1,2, Jinghui Dong1,2, Ling Wang1,2, Chen Chen1,4, Tengyue Wang1,2* and Peijin Li1,2*   

  1. 1. The National Key Engineering Laboratory of Crop Stress Resistance Breeding, The School of Life Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China
    2. Center for Crop Pest Detection and Control, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China
    3. The School of Tea and Food Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China
    4. Department of Microbiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.
    *Correspondences: Tengyue Wang (tengyue2021@ahau.edu.cn); Peijin Li (Peijin.li@ahau.edu.cn, Dr. Li is fully responsible for the distribution of all materials associated with this article)
  • Received:2024-02-15 Accepted:2024-07-24 Online:2024-08-22 Published:2024-11-01
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2022YFD1201803‐2), the Anhui Provincial Major Science and Technology Project (202203a06020005), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32171954 and 32202322).

Abstract: During their co-evolution with herbivorous insects, plants have developed multiple defense strategies that resist pests, such as releasing a blend of herbivory-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) that repel pests or recruit their natural enemies. However, the responses of insects to HIPVs in maize (Zea mays L.) are not well understood. Here, we demonstrate that the Asian corn borer (ACB, Ostrinia furnacalis), a major insect pest of maize, shows a preference for maize pre-infested with ACB larvae rather than being repelled by these plants. Through combined transcriptomic and metabolomics analysis of ACB-infested maize seedlings, we identified two substances that explain this behavior: (E)-4,8-dimethylnona-1,3,7-triene (DMNT) and (3E,7E)-4,8,12-trimethyltrideca-1,3,7,11-tetraene (TMTT). DMNT and TMTT attracted ACB larvae, and knocking out the maize genes responsible for their biosynthesis via gene editing impaired this attraction. External supplementation with DMNT/TMTT hampered the larvae's ability to locate pre-infested maize. These findings uncover a novel role for DMNT and TMTT in driving the behavior of ACB. Genetic modification of maize to make it less detectable by ACB might be an effective strategy for developing maize germplasm resistant to ACB and for managing this pest effectively in the field.

Key words: Asian corn borer, DMNT, HIPVs, maize, TMTT

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