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Glycoalkaloids of Wild and Cultivated Solanum: Effects on Specialist and Generalist Insect Herbivores

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Abstract

Plant domestication by selective breeding may reduce plant chemical defense in favor of growth. However, few studies have simultaneously studied the defensive chemistry of cultivated plants and their wild congeners in connection to herbivore susceptibility. We compared the constitutive glycoalkaloids (GAs) of cultivated potato, Solanum tuberosum, and a wild congener, S. commersonii, by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. We also determined the major herbivores present on the two species in field plots, and tested their preference for the plants and their isolated GAs in two-choice bioassays. Solanum commersonii had a different GA profile and higher concentrations than S. tuberosum. In the field, S. tuberosum was mostly attacked by the generalist aphids Myzus persicae and Macrosiphum euphorbiae, and by the specialist flea beetle Epitrix argentinensis. In contrast, the most common herbivore on S. commersonii was the specialist sawfly Tequus sp. Defoliation levels were higher on the wild species, probably due to the chewing feeding behavior of Tequus sp. As seen in the field, M. persicae and E. argentinensis preferred leaf disks of the cultivated plant, while Tequus sp. preferred those of the wild one. Congruently, GAs from S. commersonii were avoided by M. persicae and preferred by Tequus sp. The potato aphid performed well on both species and was not deterred by S. commersonii GAs. These observations suggest that different GA profiles explain the feeding preferences of the different herbivores, and that domestication has altered the defensive capacity of S. tuberosum. However, the wild relative is still subject to severe defoliation by a specialist herbivore that may cue on the GAs.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge technical assistance by personnel of the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INIA) for processing germplasm material, and for field and greenhouse support. Glycoalkaloid standards were kindly provided by Prof. Fernando Ferreira of Universidad de la República, Uruguay. Dr. Nora Cabrera of Universidad Nacional de la Plata, Argentina, identified Epitrix argentinensis. Prof. Jeremy McNeil of Western University, Canada, provided helpful suggestions for the manuscript. Mass spectrometry facilities were funded by the European Union Grant EU-URY 2003–5906. The National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII) granted fellowships to P. Altesor and A. García. Support by the graduate program in Biological Sciences PEDECIBA is also acknowledged.

While in proof, Tequus sp. was identified as Tequus schrottkyi (Knw.), by Dr. Stefan Schmidt, Curator for Hymenoptera, Zoologische Staatssammlung, Munich, Germany.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Paula Altesor, Álvaro García, Elizabeth Font, Alejandra Rodríguez-Haralambides & Andrés González

  2. Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria (INIA)-Las Brujas, Canelones, Uruguay

    Francisco Vilaró

  3. Ifeva, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires/Conicet, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Martín Oesterheld

  4. Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Roxina Soler

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  1. Paula Altesor
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Altesor, P., García, Á., Font, E. et al. Glycoalkaloids of Wild and Cultivated Solanum: Effects on Specialist and Generalist Insect Herbivores. J Chem Ecol 40, 599–608 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-014-0447-8

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