Western corn rootworm resistance in maize persists in the absence of jasmonic acid.

Abstract

Main conclusion: Larva growth, survival, and development speed were not affected by the absence of jasmonic acid (JA) indicating that JA does not have a direct role in maize resistance to western corn rootworm. Jasmonic acid (JA) is a plant hormone that regulates multiple physiological processes including defense against herbivory by chewing insects. Previous research showed its importance for resistance to aboveground herbivory. While few studies have investigated the role of JA in resistance to belowground root-feeding herbivores, none has directly tested the role of JA in such resistance. In this study, we used an opr7opr8 double mutant to directly test the role of JA in resistance to western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera, WCR), a devastating and specialist pest of maize. The opr7opr8 double mutant is deficient in JA accumulation as we found that it does not accumulate JA nor JA-Ile independently of exposure to WCR. We found no significant difference in growth (body mass), survival, and development of WCR larvae in response to JA deficiency, suggesting that disruption of JA biosynthesis does not impact resistance in maize roots to WCR. Additionally, we observed no significant effect on loss of root tissue caused by WCR associated with JA deficiency, while we found a reduction in shoot growth (mass) associated with WCR herbivory in the opr7opr8 mutant that was not observed in the wildtype. This suggested a role for JA in aboveground growth response to WCR herbivory rather than resistance to WCR.