PLANT PROTEINASE-INHIBITORS - A DEFENSE AGAINST HERBIVOROUS INSECTS

Using the tomato plant, Lycopersicon esculentum L., and the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua (Hubner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), we have demonstrated that insect herbivory induces a rapid decline in plant quality. This decline in plant quality manifests itself by a highly significant reduction in rate of larval growth on a medium containing foliage from insect-damaged as opposed to undamaged tomato plants. The induction of tomato proteinase inhibitors, as a result of larval feeding, is invoked as a factor that systemically reduces leaf quality.