Myzus persicae Feeding on Water Stressed-Arabidopsis Affects the Emission Profile of Plant Volatile Organic Compounds

Abstract

Emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by water-controlled or water-stressed Arabidopsis thaliana infested or not infested with Myzus persicae were evaluated by headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The infestations were maintained for 0–24 h, 24–48 h, and 48–72 h, and the emission profile for each time period was determined. Under these controlled conditions, the proportion of 4-methylpentyl isothiocyanate and dimethyl disulfide emitted by aphid-infested, water-stressed Arabidopsis was greater than that for aphid-infested water-controlled Arabidopsis over the 48–72 h sampling period. The proportion of terpene emitted by aphid-infested water-stressed plants also significantly increased compared with the other treatments over the three assayed sampling periods. In contrast, the proportion of 2-ethylhexanal (the only detected aldehyde) and ketones for the water-controlled plants generally remained high following aphid infestation. Taken together, these original data ascertain that abiotic factors can greatly interact to biotic stresses to alter the VOC emission profiles of plants.