Arthropod-Plant Interactions (2019) 13, 411-421

Luis Oroño, Martín Aluja, Sergio Ovruski, Juan Rull, Roque Interdonato, Fernando E. Prado and Mirna Hilal (2019)
Dynamics of soluble sugars and secondary metabolites in fruit of Juglans australis attacked by Anastrepha fraterculus and Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae)
Arthropod-Plant Interactions 13 (3), 411-421
Abstract: The development and fitness of phytophagous insects are tightly linked to the nutritional quality of their host plants and many studies have examined the influence of primary and secondary metabolites of plants and their effects on the development of insects. Herbivore tactics to modify plant metabolic pathways to lower host toxicity need to be better understood as they are critical to a better understanding of herbivore–host plant relationships. To contribute to this end, in this study we analyzed temporal patterns of glucose, sucrose, fructose, and total soluble sugar contents, as well as tannins, phenols, and flavonoids in the mesocarp of fruit of native walnut (Juglans australis), uninfested and infested by Anastrepha fraterculus and Ceratitis capitata (sometimes simultaneously in a single fruit). Both fly species are polyphagous tephritids whose larvae feed on a wide variety of hosts. We observed a high correlation between infestation and adult emergence of these two insects which was positive in the case of sugar content and negative in the case of toxic secondary metabolites in fruit. At particular ripening stages, infested fruit contained higher levels of sugars and lower levels of phenols and tannins than non-infested fruit. We discuss the possibility that A. fraterculus and C. capitata, each with different egg-laying strategies, may modify metabolical pathways in the fruit for their own benefit through larval activity with the help of bacteria in their gut. Alternatively, the patterns observed may be simple side effects of larval feeding and associated growth of opportunistic microorganisms.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Martín Aluja

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
resistance/tolerance/defence of host
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Ceratitis capitata	Walnut/butternut (Juglans)
	Anastrepha fraterculus	Walnut/butternut (Juglans)