Defense in Numbers: Multiple Trichome Ruptures by a Thrips Nymph (Wild Tomato) 🍅🪰
- PlantHouse Enterprise
- 14 hours ago
- 1 min read
Published on: 10 June 2025
Witness a high-stakes encounter as a thrips nymph (Frankliniella occidentalis) triggers several defensive "landmines" while navigating the stem of a wild tomato (Solanum habrochaites). This footage illustrates the cumulative effect of the plant's mechanical defense as multiple Type VI glandular trichomes rupture in rapid succession. As the nymph moves across the dense "forest" of trichomes typical of wild tomato accessions, its appendages repeatedly apply the critical force (approximately 6 ± 3 μN) required to detach the glandular heads. Each rupture event occurs at a specialized junction between the gland and the stalk, releasing defensive fluid in a brittle fracture mechanism.
Keywords: plant biomechanics, plant–insect interactions, trichomes
Citation:
Jared Popowski, Lucas Warma, Alicia Abarca Cifuentes, Petra Bleeker, Maziyar Jalaal, Glandular trichome rupture in tomato plants is an ultra-fast and sensitive defense mechanism against insects, Journal of Experimental Botany, Volume 76, Issue 21, 25 November 2025, Pages 6508–6519, https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eraf257
Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0 - Creative Commons
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