Centennial Honors College
Western Illinois University
Undergraduate Research Day 2014
Poster Presentation
The Response of Helicoverpa zea to Ozonated Tomato Plant Leaves
Tariq Ahmad
Faculty Mentor: Sue Hum-Musser
Biology
The corn earworm (Helicoverpa zea) is a pest found commonly feeding on the corn
plants of the Midwest, but also feed on any other plants given to it. The relationship
between these insects and the various plants that they feed on usually consists of
compounds that are released by the plant as a protective response and the chemicals
released by the larvae that may detoxify the chemicals secreted by the plant. The
tomato plants used in this experiment will be treated with ozone before the larvae feed
on them. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis will be
performed in order to test which gene expression of tomato leaves in response to
ozone-treatment. We will also examine the caterpillar pathways that are induced or
suppressed in response to feeding on ozone-treated leaves. Caterpillar growth and
mortality will also be examined. Preliminary data demonstrate differences in gene
expression in plant tissue in response to the ozone treatment. We also see some
differences in the growth and mortality of the caterpillars dependent on the treatments.
The research will determine how this organism responds to environmental stress that
affects both the organism itself as well as the crop that it is feeding on.