Understanding patterns of host plant use by polyphagous crop pests is a prerequisite for understanding population dynamics, which, in turn, is necessary for designing appropriate pest management strategies. An analytical method that detects gossypol - a cotton specific plant secondary metabolite - was previously developed to determine the percentage of cotton pests that fed on cotton versus other plant hosts as larvae. Using an untargeted metabolomics/lipidomics with acid hydrolysis-based sample extraction, host plant-derived metabolite markers for soybean and cotton were identified in adult moths. Both target metabolites are concurrently analyzed using a single extraction followed by a targeted LC-MS/MS method. This approach enables us to quantify host use patterns of polyphagous agricultural pests that feed on soybean or cotton as one of their larval hosts, particularly in the southern United States and Brazil.<br/>

Discovery of plant-derived metabolite markers for pest management strategies

2019 Fall National Meeting

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