Effects of methyl jasmonate on chemical defenses of conifer seedlings in relation to feeding by Hylobius abietis

Abstract: The chemical elicitor methyl jasmonate (MeJA) could replace insecticides in Europe and Asia for protection of young conifers against the pine weevil (Hylobius abietis). This thesis mainly focuses on the effects of MeJA treatment on chemical defenses of conifers from seedling batches with documented field resistance. Tissues of three pine species and one spruce species, with various treatments, were here extracted in hexane, whereafter volatile contents of tissues were separated and analyzed by 2D GC-MS.Induced responses of seedlings of Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) and Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) to the folivore pine processionary (Thaumetopoea pityocampa), and the phloem-feeder H. abietis, have been studied. Amounts of mono- and sesqui-terpenes (and also non-volatile resin) in conifer tissues (needles and phloem) were less induced by T. pityocampa than by H. abietis.The MeJA-treated seedlings of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) changed their composition of phloem monoterpenes (induction of (-)-β-pinene), and were better protected in field than the seedlings of Norway spruce (Picea abies), which increased their total amounts of monoterpenes. Orientation bioassays with H. abietis showed deterrent effects of (-)-β-pinene, (+)-3-carene, (-)-bornyl acetate and 1,8-cineole. Conversely, (-)-α-pinene (induced in P. abies but not in P. sylvestris) was non-deterrent.MeJA-treated seedlings fed on by H. abietis contained higher amounts of the H. abietis antifeedant 2-phenylethanol, in tissues and emissions. Phloem of control seedlings instead induced the (+)-α-pinene, which is one of the enantiomers of the H. abietis attractant α-pinene.In response to MeJA treatment, the relative amounts of the (+)-α-pinene increased in the phloem of  P. radiata, while it decreased in P. pinaster phloem. The preference of H. abietis in the field for P. radiata before P. pinaster may be explained by these changes in enantiomers of the H. abietis attractant α-pinene.