The Tomato Strikes Back: Plant Response to Environmental Stress

Introduction Tomato is an important vegetable. Its production is threatened due to altered weather patterns which increase environmental stressors such as flooding1, 2 and herbivory3 to crops. Plants respond in many ways. Stressed plants strike back to environmental stress by altering their chemistry4: Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) emissions Defensive secondary metabolites2 Stress induced physiological changes in plants impact growth and development of insects. This study is broken into two experiments: The plant response to flooding stress The insect performance on flooded plant

Sometimes, When it Rains it Pours: How Does Flooding Alter Plant-Herbivore Relationships?

Flooding, an under-studied abiotic stressor, creates hostile soil conditions, including hypoxia, which hinder the growth and development of plants. Plants respond to abiotic and biotic stressors. A common response is the production of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which modulate stress responses and mediate plant and insect interactions. Flooding causes significant losses in crops of agricultural and economic importance including tomato. Understanding how flooding impacts plant growth, plant chemistry, caterpillar performance and chemical mediated plant-herbivore interactions will create fundamental knowledge to an emerging challenge brought about by climate change and inform pest management decisions post flooding events. This study investigated how flooding alters tomato plant volatile emissions and affects caterpillar growth and performance