Abstract
Changing the spectral composition of light has numerous advantages for the production and quality of horticultural crops. However, changing the light spectrum to stimulate growth can have negative consequences for plant responses to biotic stress. Especially changes in the ratio between red and far-red light (R:FR) have an important effect on plant-herbivore interactions. A low R:FR is indicative of shading and competition for light and induces strong growth responses which are known as shade avoidance responses, including stem elongation and leaf hyponasty. Exposure to low R:FR also inhibits plant defensive responses against biotic agents and increases the performance of pests and pathogens. In this study we tested whether an increase in R:FR, through the supplementation of red light LEDs can be used to reduce the performance of arthropod herbivores. Tomato plants (Solanum lycopersocum) were exposed to three different R:FR ratios; 0.5 (shading), 1.2 (sunlight) and 5.2 (artificial) and infested with either caterpillars (Manduca sexta), spider mites (Tetranychus urticae), aphids (Myzus persicae) or whiteflies (Trialeurodes vaporariorum). Plants exposed to a low R:FR showed clear stem elongation and leaf hyponasty consistent with the shade-avoidance responses, while plants exposed to high R:FR showed reduced stem length and reduced hyponasty. The performance of all four herbivore species was significantly increased after exposure to low R:FR, although the strength of this effect varied between phloem feeding and tissue feeding herbivores. Increasing the R:FR only reduced the performance of the caterpillars and did not significantly affect the other herbivore species. These results indicate that herbivore species with different feeding strategies respond differently to changes in light quality. These findings have implications for the use of LEDs in greenhouse horticulture.
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Claims 11
Claim · model-written summary
Low R:FR caused stem elongation and leaf hyponasty.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicumt0 - Treatment
- low R:FRe0
- Outcome
- stem elongation and leaf hyponastye0
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“Plants exposed to a low R:FR showed clear stem elongation and leaf hyponasty consistent with the shade-avoidance responses”
t0“tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
High R:FR reduced stem length and hyponasty.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicumt0 - Treatment
- high R:FRe0
- Outcome
- stem length and reduced hyponastye0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“plants exposed to high R:FR showed reduced stem length and reduced hyponasty”
t0“tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Low R:FR significantly increased Manduca sexta performance.
- Taxon
- Manduca sexta
Manduca sextae1 - Treatment
- low R:FRe0
- Outcome
- performancee0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“The performance of all four herbivore species was significantly increased after exposure to low R:FR”
e1“caterpillars (Manduca sexta)”
Claim · model-written summary
Low R:FR significantly increased Tetranychus urticae performance.
- Taxon
- Tetranychus urticae
Tetranychus urticaee1 - Treatment
- low R:FRe0
- Outcome
- performancee0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“The performance of all four herbivore species was significantly increased after exposure to low R:FR”
e1“spider mites (Tetranychus urticae)”
Claim · model-written summary
Low R:FR significantly increased Myzus persicae performance.
- Taxon
- Myzus persicae
Myzus persicaee1 - Treatment
- low R:FRe0
- Outcome
- performancee0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“The performance of all four herbivore species was significantly increased after exposure to low R:FR”
e1“aphids (Myzus persicae)”
Claim · model-written summary
Low R:FR significantly increased Trialeurodes vaporariorum performance.
- Taxon
- Trialeurodes vaporariorum
Trialeurodes vaporariorume1 - Treatment
- low R:FRe0
- Outcome
- performancee0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“The performance of all four herbivore species was significantly increased after exposure to low R:FR”
e1“whiteflies (Trialeurodes vaporariorum)”
Claim · model-written summary
Increasing R:FR reduced caterpillar performance.
- Taxon
- Manduca sexta
Manduca sextae1 - Treatment
- Increasing the R:FRe0
- Outcome
- performancee0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“Increasing the R:FR only reduced the performance of the caterpillars”
e1“caterpillars (Manduca sexta)”
Claim · model-written summary
Increasing R:FR did not significantly affect spider mite performance.
- Taxon
- Tetranychus urticae
Tetranychus urticaee1 - Treatment
- Increasing the R:FRe0
- Outcome
- performancee0
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“Increasing the R:FR only reduced the performance of the caterpillars and did not significantly affect the other herbivore species.”
e1“spider mites (Tetranychus urticae)”
Claim · model-written summary
Increasing R:FR did not significantly affect aphid performance.
- Taxon
- Myzus persicae
Myzus persicaee1 - Treatment
- Increasing the R:FRe0
- Outcome
- performancee0
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“Increasing the R:FR only reduced the performance of the caterpillars and did not significantly affect the other herbivore species.”
e1“aphids (Myzus persicae)”
Claim · model-written summary
Increasing R:FR did not significantly affect whitefly performance.
- Taxon
- Trialeurodes vaporariorum
Trialeurodes vaporariorume1 - Treatment
- Increasing the R:FRe0
- Outcome
- performancee0
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“Increasing the R:FR only reduced the performance of the caterpillars and did not significantly affect the other herbivore species.”
e1“whiteflies (Trialeurodes vaporariorum)”
Claim · model-written summary
The effect of low R:FR differed in strength between feeding strategies.
Verbatim
e0“although the strength of this effect varied between phloem feeding and tissue feeding herbivores”