An Acylsucrose-Producing Tomato Line Derived from the Wild Species Solanum pimpinellifolium Decreases Fitness of the Whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum is an insect pest of many plant crops including tomato and is especially harmful because it is a vector for a number of plant viral diseases. In this paper, an improved tomato line bred to produce glandular trichomes that exudate the deterrent compounds acylsucroses, which was introgressed from a wild tomato species, was demonstrated to decrease fitness of the insect and showed as a means for controlling the pests and, indirectly, could be an aid to reduce virus transmission to tomato plants. ABSTRACT: A combination of biological control and host plant resistance would be desirable for optimally controlling the greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum in tomato crops. Whitefly settlement preference, oviposition, and survivorship were evaluated on ABL 10-4 and ‘Moneymaker’, two nearly-isogenic tomato lines with, and without, whitefly-resistance traits based on type IV leaf glandular trichomes derived from the tomato wild species Solanum pimpinellifolium, respectively. Significantly reduced preference of T. vaporariorum adult whiteflies for ABL 10-4 leaves was observed. Moreover, T. vaporariorum altered its abaxial–adaxial settling performance on leaves of ABL 10-4 plants. A significantly lower tendency to settle on abaxial leaf surface was observed in ABL 10-4 compared to Moneymaker plants. Furthermore, T. vaporariorum deposited fewer eggs and exhibited a significantly reduced egg to adult survivorship in ABL 10-4 than in Moneymaker plants. Therefore, reduced fitness and distorted performance were observed for T. vaporariorum on ABL 10-4 tomato plants supporting that type IV leaf glandular trichomes might protect them from this pest and, indirectly, from the viruses it transmits.