A team of the ICVV (Vine and Wine Science Institute, La Rioja, CSIC) has developed the world’s first research on the interaction between plant genomes and a mite —specifically the red spider, Tetranichus urticae— and has identified a molecule that is fatal for this pest, that affects over 150 crops and causes annual damages of up to 1.000 million dollars.
The molecule, ‘indole-3-glucosinolate’ is in the plant that is under genomic research, the Arabidopsis thaliana, and on others like broccoli, which has the quality of not being toxic for humans and not only that.
The results of the research have been presented in the article ‘Reciprocal responses in the interaction between Arabidopsis and the cell-content feeding chelicerate herbivore Tetranychus urticae” published by the journal, Plant Physiology Review of the American Society of Plant Biologists.
The research team, headed by the researcher Vojslava Grbic, includes, amongst others, Miodrag Gbric, Marie Navarro, Marc Cazaux and Cristina Rioja, of the Vine and Wine Science Institute (La Rioja Government —CSIC— La Rioja University) and the University of Western Ontario (Canada), amongst other centres. This research was funded by the Genome Canada and the Ontario Genomic Institute.
The majority of studies on molecular genetics aimed at plant defence against pests have so far focused on insects.
However, mites are also pests that cause numerous damages to plant leaves, aided in recent years by global warming. Moreover, the resistance against acaricides has increased, being able to generate new resistances every 2-4 years.
The results of the study prove that for the first time, the genomic interaction between the plan Arabidopsis thaliana and the mite Tetranychus urticae, is an effective formula in biological control, that avoids the use of pesticides and other plant protection products against such pests.
