Has Plant Domestication Compromised Plant Defensive Chemistry? Aphid Induced Stress in Tomatoes

Authors

• Nhi Do, Evergreen Valley College
• Satinderpal Kaur, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Minxing Zhu, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Esther N. Ngumbi, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

Summer 2026

Abstract

Tomato plants have natural defensive mechanisms.

Direct: Phenolics are secondary metabolites that can protect the plant by intoxicating the herbivores and/or producing strong repulsive odors.

Indirect: VOCs, Volatile Organic Chemicals, are gas phase signals that attract the predators of the attacking herbivore to the plant.

Domestication of plants may chemically alter these defenses by prioritizing fruit production over defensive traits.

We hypothesize that wild/ancient tomato plants would have a greater quantity of volatiles and increased concentration of leaf total phenolics compared to cultivated tomatoes during aphid herbivory.

Rights

Copyright is owned by the creator of this work.

Recommended Citation

Do, Nhi; Kaur, Satinderpal; Zhu, Minxing; and Ngumbi, Esther N., "Has Plant Domestication Compromised Plant Defensive Chemistry? Aphid Induced Stress in Tomatoes" (2026). MICRO-CCS student projects. 28.
https://spark.parkland.edu/micro_ccs_student/28