Selection of tomato genotypes for processing with high zingiberene content, resistant to pests

Abstract

ABSTRACT Tomato cultivars resistant to arthropod pests are an important tool to reduce the use of pesticides. Resistance sources can be found in wild Solanum species such as S. habrochaites, which shows high levels of zingiberene (ZGB). This study aimed to evaluate the resistance of a tomato F2 progeny to spider mite and whitefly by evaluating the ZGB content, in laboratory, in plants from the F2 population of the interspecific crossing Solanum lycopersicum cultivar Redenção x Solanum habrochaites var. hirsutum (PI-127826), F1 plants, susceptible plants (cultivar Redenção) and plants of the wild species (PI-127826). From the F2 population, six plants with high content and three with low content of ZGB were selected. For evaluating the impact of ZGB on the spider mite behavior, the distance walked by spider mites from a central point was measured on the selected plants and their parents. For whitefly, the number of eggs and nymphs were quantified. Spider mites travelled shorter distances in plants with high ZGB content. Also, the number of whitefly eggs and nymphs was lower in these plants. Higher ZBG contents affected negatively both the spider mite and the whitefly behavior.