Airborne host–plant manipulation by whiteflies via an inducible blend of plant volatiles

The whitefly Bemisia tabaci is one of the world’s most important invasive crop pests, possibly because it manipulates plant defense signaling. Upon infestation by whiteflies, plants mobilize salicylic acid (SA)-dependent defenses, which mainly target pathogens. In contrast, jasmonic acid (JA)-dependent defenses are gradually sup- pressed in whitefly-infested plants. The down-regulation of JA defenses make plants more susceptible to insects, including white- flies. Here, we report that this host–plant manipulation extends to neighboring plants via airborne signals. Plants respond to insect attack with the release of a blend of inducible volatiles. Perception of these volatiles by neighboring plants usually primes them to prepare for an imminent attack. Here, however, we show that whitefly-induced tomato plant volatiles prime SA-dependent de- fenses and suppress JA-dependent defenses, thus rendering neighboring tomato plants more susceptible to whiteflies. Exper- iments with volatiles from caterpillar-damaged and pathogen- infected plants, as well as with synthetic volatiles, confirm that whiteflies modify the quality of neighboring plants for their off- spring via whitefly-inducible plant volatiles.