Volatiles realeased by mutant corn seedlings with morphological features for shade avoidance are preferred by the stink Dichelops furcatus.

JACOBI V.G.; FERNANDEZ, P.C.; MADDONI GUSTAVO A; ZAVALA J. A

Santa Fe

Congreso; XXXIII Argentinian meeting of Plant Physiology (RAFV2021); 2021

The Neotropical stink bug Dichelops furcatus F. (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) has recently become a new pest of corn (Zea mays L.) in Argentina and Brazil. This stink bug species feeds on corn seedlings reducing the number of plants per hectare and crop yield. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released by corn seedlings are used by D. furcatus adults as host-associated cues. Since plant-plant competition affects both plant growth and defenses, it is possible that VOCs emission can be adjusted to the physiological changes. Corn plants perceive neighbor competition by phytochromes B1 and B2, and phytochrome B corn mutants show shade avoidance features in absence of plant-plant competition signals. In this study, we assessed D. furcatus’ olfactometer orientation to VOCs emitted by seedlings of the wild type corn inbred line France 2 (WT) and its isogenic mutants lacking either phytochrome B1 (Phy B1) or B2 (Phy B2). Besides, VOCs released by the corn lines were collected and analyzed by using a coupled gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS). We observed that D. furcatus orientated towards VOCs released by Phy B1 mutant seedlings rather than to VOCs of either WT or Phy B2 seedlings (p