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Impact of Soil Rhizobacteria Inoculation and Leaf-Chewing Insect Herbivory on Mentha piperita Leaf Secondary Metabolites

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Abstract

Secondary metabolites commonly play important physiological roles in plants and can be modified quantitatively and qualitatively by exposure to biotic and abiotic interactions. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and herbivory induce systemic resistance. In the present study, we analyzed the induction of secondary metabolites in peppermint plants in response to chewing insect herbivory on PGPR-inoculated Mentha piperita plants. The secondary metabolites of M. piperita plants were increased when plants were inoculated with PGPR and also exposed to caterpillar herbivory. It was found that the total essential oil yield in inoculated plants with insect damage was ~2.6-fold higher than in controls. The yield was similar to that of plants either damaged by insects or inoculated, indicating that there was no synergism. The same trend was observed for phenolic compounds. In contrast, VOC emissions were significantly higher in plants infested by insects, independent of whether they were inoculated. Insect damaged plants had 5.5 times higher monoterpene emissions than control plants, and ~ 2-fold higher emissions than on PGPR-inoculated plants without insects. To gain a better understanding of how herbivory on PGPR-inoculated plants can cause an increase in secondary metabolites of peppermint, we examined changes in plant defense hormones in inoculated plants after herbivory. We found that the combination of both treatments increased the endogenous jasmonic and salicylic acid levels to the same extent as in plants only inoculated or only insect-damaged. Because different interactions can alter the phytochemistry of plants such as M. piperita, this topic is both ecologically and economically relevant.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

abscisic acid

EO:

essential oil

JA:

jasmonic acid

PGPR:

plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria

SA:

salicylic acid

SM:

secondary metabolites

TPC:

total phenolic content

VOC:

volatile organic compounds

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from the Secretaría de Ciencia y Técnica de la Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto, the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), MinCyT Córdoba, and the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT) PICT 0636-14, Argentina. EB obtained financial support from a Georg Forster-Research Fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. We thank AgIdea (Agricultural Innovation Applied Research-Argentina) company for providing the insects. The authors are grateful to Dr. Paul Hobson, native speaker, for editorial assistance.

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  1. INBIAS Instituto de Biotecnología Ambiental y Salud (CONICET- Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto), Campus Universitario, 5800, Río Cuarto, Argentina

    Lorena del Rosario Cappellari, Julieta Chiappero, Tamara Belén Palermo, Walter Giordano & Erika Banchio

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  1. Lorena del Rosario Cappellari
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Correspondence to Erika Banchio.

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del Rosario Cappellari, L., Chiappero, J., Palermo, T.B. et al. Impact of Soil Rhizobacteria Inoculation and Leaf-Chewing Insect Herbivory on Mentha piperita Leaf Secondary Metabolites. J Chem Ecol 46, 619–630 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-020-01193-3

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