Identification of Tomato Leaf Miner Secretory Proteins and Their Roles in Influencing Plant Defenses.

The tomato leaf miner (Tuta absoluta) is a globally destructive pest that cause extensive damage to tomato crops by chewing mouthparts, leading to severe necrosis, fruit abortion, and substantial yield losses. To date, the elicitors/effectors of T. absoluta have not been characterized. In this study, we combined proteomic profiling of T. absoluta-infested tomato leaves with transcriptomic analysis of salivary glands to identify candidate molecules involved in herbivory-driven plant responses. Bioinformatics analyses predicted 40 candidate elicitors and effectors, which were subsequently assessed through transient expression assays in Nicotiana benthamiana. The results demonstrated that the candidate number 33 (T. absoluta 33, Ta33) induced cell death in both the intracellular space and the apoplast, while Ta21 triggered a strong apoplastic reactive oxygen species (ROS) burst. Conversely, Ta38 effectively suppressed INF1-induced cell death. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis further showed that these genes were highly expressed during the feeding stage, supporting their involvement in plant-insect molecular dialogue. This study systematically identified and characterized elicitors and effectors of T. absoluta, providing a foundational framework for elucidating its herbivory mechanisms and developing targeted management strategies.

• Publication year

  2026

• Venue

  Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

• Publication date

  2026-01-01

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.ibmb.2026.104500PMID 41611031
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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