Stem trichome mRNA-seq analysis of wild tomato relatives (Solanum section Lycopersicon)

Insects are gaining resistance to commercially available pesticides and effective insecticides (e.g. neonicotinoids) are currently being banned.Consequently, there is a real threat that the EU vegetable production will be affected. Wild tomato species have the ability to defend themselves by producing natural defence compounds that have a toxic or repellent effect on insects. These compounds are produced and stored in glandular hairs (trichomes) on the plant stem and leaf surface. Extensive breeding in protected environments led to the loss of these defence compounds in cultivated tomatoes. It was previously shown that the introduction of the terpene 7-epizingiberene biosynthetic pathway from a wild tomato in trichomes of cultivated tomato results in an enhanced resistance to insects. However, the regulatory factors that govern the production of these defence compounds seem also essential for successful incorporation of 'wild resistance' into breeding material. In this study, we aim to discover metabolic defence mechanisms present in the trichomes of wild tomato species that can be re-introduced into cultivated tomato with a focus on transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of biosynthetic pathways.