Selection for high foliar levels of allelochemicals has been proposed as a suitable strategy for breeding tomatoes for arthropod pest resistance. In the Lycopersicon pennellii (Correll) D'Arcy accession LA-716, acylsugars exsudated by type IV glandular trichomes present in all aerial parts of the plant reportedly mediate resistance to arthropod pests. This paper intended to study the levels of resistance to two arthropod pests, the South American tomato pinworm (Tuta absoluta) and spider mites (Tetranychus evansi) in tomato genotypes selected solely on the basis of their foliar acylsugar contents. Eleven plants with contrasting acylsugar contents were selected from population F3BC2 derived from the interespecific cross Lycopersicon esculentum 'TOM-584'x Lycopersicon pennellii 'LA-716'. These genotypes were used in tests for resistance/ repellence to the arthropod pests, along with parental checks TOM-584 and LA-716. In Tetranychus spp. mite repellence tests, plants selected for high acylsugar contents behaved similarly to the resistant parent LA-716. Negative and significative correlations between acylsugar contents and distances travelled by the mites onto the leaflet surface indicated an association between the allelochemical and the levels of mite repellence. In the assay with the South American pinworm, these genotypes were evaluated for leaflet lesion type and overall plant damage. The high acylsugar genotypes had good levels of insect resistance, similar to those found in LA-716. In all the evaluation date, acylsugars levels were highly and negatively correlated with pinworm damage. The results indicated that selection for high acylsugar contents was effective in increasing the levels of arthropod resistance of tomato genotypes.
Tomato breeding; acylsugars; South American pinworm; spider mite
