Phenolic compounds that confer resistance to spruce budworm

Phenolic compounds are apparently important in the defence mechanisms of conifers. To test the hypothesis that phenolic compounds in resistant white spruce [Picea glauca (Moench) Voss (Pinaceae)] impart resistance against spruce budworm [Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)], we performed aqueous extractions of current-year shoots of white spruce that were tolerant of varying levels of budworm defoliation. High-performance liquid chromatographic profiles of water extracts of P. glauca needles differed between resistant and susceptible trees. Further nuclear magnetic resonance analyses identified two phenolic glucosides in susceptible white spruce, picein [3-(β-d-glucosyloxy)-hydroxy-acetophenone] and pungenin [3-(β-d-glucosyloxy)-4-hydroxy-acetophenone], and two phenolics in resistant white spruce, pungenol (3′,4′-hydroxy-acetophenone) and piceol (4′-hydroxyacetophenone). We focused on the performance of spruce budworm when piceol and pungenol were added to the diet. These two compounds significantly reduced larval survival, retarded development, and reduced pupal mass. Food consumption by sixth-instar spruce budworms was affected by a combination of the phenolic compounds. These results suggest that the two phenolic compounds reduce the pressure of spruce budworm herbivory on specific host tree phenotypes. Thus, the mechanism of defence in P. glauca apparently reflects a strategy of constitutive resistance.