Herbivory induces differential gene expression in Solanum lycopersicum cultivars

Solanum lycopersicum cultivars display differential response to biotic stress. Three agronomically important tomato cultivars viz. All Rounder, Lakshmi and Shaktiman were subjected to equal amount of Spodoptera litura Fab. damage at anthesis stage. Expression levels of four genes CORONATINE INSENSITIVE-1 (COI-1), Leucylaminopeptidases (LAP), Peptidyl propyl isomerase (PPI) and DNA binding protein (DBP) involved in Jasmonate signaling pathway, oxidative stress response and defense responses were determined by Semi-Quantitative RT-PCR. A significantly enhanced expression of COI-1 transcript (p=0.05) was observed in induced samples of all three cultivars as compared to their uninduced samples. In Cultivar Lakshmi, the expression of LAP transcript increased 2 fold in response to herbivory. PPI & DBP transcript levels were compromised and varied widely across cultivars. Within species variation was evident in case of COI-1 & LAP transcripts expression. Elucidating the differential expression levels of key targets provides us clues for developing insect tolerant cultivars.