AUTHOR=Guo Honggang , Sun Yucheng , Yan Hongyu , Li Chuanyou , Ge Feng 

TITLE=O3-Induced Leaf Senescence in Tomato Plants Is Ethylene Signaling-Dependent and Enhances the Population Abundance of Bemisia tabaci

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2018.00764

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2018.00764

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Elevated ozone (O<sub>3</sub>) can alter the phenotypes of host plants particularly in induction of leaf senescence, but few reports examine the involvement of phytohormone in O<sub>3</sub>-induced changes in host phenotypes that influence the foraging quality for insects. Here, we used an ethylene (ET) receptor mutant <italic>Nr</italic> and its wild-type to determine the function of the ET signaling pathway in O<sub>3</sub>-induced leaf senescence, and bottom-up effects on the performance of <italic>Bemisia tabaci</italic> in field open-top chambers (OTCs). Our results showed that elevated O<sub>3</sub> reduced photosynthetic efficiency and chlorophyll content and induced leaf senescence of plant regardless of plant genotype. Leaf senescence in <italic>Nr</italic> plants was alleviated relative to wild-type under elevated O<sub>3</sub>. Further analyses of foliar quality showed that elevated O<sub>3</sub> had little effect on phytohormone-mediated defenses, but significantly increased the concentration of amino acids in two plant genotypes. Furthermore, <italic>Nr</italic> plants had lower amino acid content relative to wild-type under elevated O<sub>3</sub>. These results provided an explanation of O<sub>3</sub>-induced increase in abundance of <italic>B. tabaci.</italic> We concluded that O<sub>3</sub>-induced senescence of plant was ET signal-dependent, and positive effects of O<sub>3</sub>-induced leaf senescence on the performance of <italic>B. tabaci</italic> largely resulted from changes of nutritional quality of host plants.</p>