Herbivory Damage Increased VOCs in Wild Relatives of Murtilla Plants Compared to Their First Offspring

Murtilla (Ugni molinae) is a shrub native to Chile that has undergone an incipient domestication process aimed at increasing its productivity. The reduction in intrinsic chemical defenses due to the domestication process has resulted in a decrease in the plant’s ability to defend itself against mechanical or insect damage. In response to this damage, plants release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as a means of defense. To understand how domestication has impacted the production of VOCs in the first offspring of murtilla, we hypothesized that their levels would be reduced due to the induction of mechanical and herbivore damage. To test this hypothesis, we collected VOCs from four offspring ecotypes and three wild relatives of murtilla. We induced mechanical and herbivore damage in the plants and then enclosed them in a glass chamber, where we captured the VOCs. We identified 12 compounds using GC-MS. Our results showed that wild relative ecotypes had a higher VOC release rate of 624.6 µg/cm²/day. Herbivore damage was the treatment that produced the highest release of VOCs, with 439.3 µg/cm²/day in wild relatives. These findings suggest that herbivory triggers defenses through the emission of VOCs, and that domestication has influenced the production of these compounds in murtilla. Overall, this study contributes to bridging the gap in the incipient domestication history of murtilla and highlights the importance of considering the impact of domestication on a plant’s chemical defenses.