O(3)-Induced Leaf Senescence in Tomato Plants Is Ethylene Signaling-Dependent and Enhances the Population Abundance of Bemisia tabaci

Elevated ozone (O(3)) can alter the phenotypes of host plants particularly in induction of leaf senescence, but few reports examine the involvement of phytohormone in O(3)-induced changes in host phenotypes that influence the foraging quality for insects. Here, we used an ethylene (ET) receptor mutant Nr and its wild-type to determine the function of the ET signaling pathway in O(3)-induced leaf senescence, and bottom-up effects on the performance of Bemisia tabaci in field open-top chambers (OTCs). Our results showed that elevated O(3) reduced photosynthetic efficiency and chlorophyll content and induced leaf senescence of plant regardless of plant genotype. Leaf senescence in Nr plants was alleviated relative to wild-type under elevated O(3). Further analyses of foliar quality showed that elevated O(3) had little effect on phytohormone-mediated defenses, but significantly increased the concentration of amino acids in two plant genotypes. Furthermore, Nr plants had lower amino acid content relative to wild-type under elevated O(3). These results provided an explanation of O(3)-induced increase in abundance of B. tabaci. We concluded that O(3)-induced senescence of plant was ET signal-dependent, and positive effects of O(3)-induced leaf senescence on the performance of B. tabaci largely resulted from changes of nutritional quality of host plants.