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The dual function of elicitors and effectors from insects: reviewing the ‘arms race’ against plant defenses

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This review provides an overview, analysis, and reflection on insect elicitors and effectors (particularly from oral secretions) in the context of the ‘arms race’ with host plants.

Abstract

Following injury by an insect herbivore, plants rapidly activate induced defenses that may directly or indirectly affect the insect. Such defense pathways are influenced by a multitude of factors; however, cues from the insect’s oral secretions are perhaps the most well studied mediators of such plant responses. The relationship between plants and their insect herbivores is often termed an ‘evolutionary arms race’ of strategies for each organism to either overcome defenses or to avoid attack. However, these compounds that can elicit a plant defense response that is detrimental to the insect may also benefit the physiology or metabolism of an insect species. Indeed, several insect elicitors of plant defenses (such as the fatty acid-amino acid conjugate, volicitin) are known to enhance an insect’s ability to obtain nutritionally important compounds from plant tissue. Here we re-examine the well-known elicitors and effectors from chewing insects to demonstrate not only our incomplete understanding of the specific biochemical and molecular cascades involved in these interactions but also to consider the role of these compounds for the insect species itself. Finally, this overview discusses opportunities for research in the field of plant-insect interactions by utilizing tools such as genomics and proteomics to integrate the future study of these interactions through ecological, physiological, and evolutionary disciplines.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge John Tooker and Andrew Stephenson from Pennsylvania State University for helpful discussions during the early stages of preparing this manuscript. This review was part of a larger project, funded in part through the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture Pre-Doctoral Fellowship #2017-06899.

Funding

This review was part of a larger project, funded in part through the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture Pre-Doctoral Fellowship #2017-06899.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biological Sciences Department, Virginia Polytechnic State and University, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Anne C. Jones

  2. Entomology Department, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Gary W. Felton & James H. Tumlinson

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  1. Anne C. Jones
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  2. Gary W. Felton
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  3. James H. Tumlinson
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The initial idea for this review was collaborative among the authors. ACJ performed the literature search and drafted the work. JHT and GW Felton critically revised the work.

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Correspondence to Anne C. Jones.

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The authors declare no conflicting or competing financial interests. Author A. C. Jones has no relevant non-financial interests to declare. Authors G. W. Felton and J. H. Tumlinson serve as editor-in-chief and on the editorial board of the Journal of Chemical Ecology, respectively.

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Jones, A.C., Felton, G.W. & Tumlinson, J.H. The dual function of elicitors and effectors from insects: reviewing the ‘arms race’ against plant defenses. Plant Mol Biol 109, 427–445 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-021-01203-2

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