Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.07.13.200618v1?rss=1 Authors: Machado, R. A. R., Theepan, V., Robert, C. A. M., Zuest, T., Hu, L., Su, Q., Schimmel, B. C. J., Erb, M. Abstract: Plants produce complex mixtures of primary and secondary metabolites. Herbivores use these metabolites as behavioral cues to increase their fitness. However, how herbivores integrate different metabolite classes into fitness-relevant foraging decisions in planta is poorly understood. We developed a molecular manipulative approach to modulate the availability of sugars and benzoxazinoid secondary metabolites as foraging cues for a specialist maize herbivore, the western corn rootworm. By disrupting benzoxazinoid biosynthesis in maize and sugar perception in the western corn rootworm, we show that sugars and benzoxazinoids act as distinct and dynamically integrated mediators of short-distance host finding and acceptance. While sugars improve the capacity of rootworm larvae to find a host plant and to distinguish post-embryonic from less nutritious embryonic roots, benzoxazinoids are specifically required for the latter. Host acceptance in the form of root damage is increased by benzoxazinoids and sugars in an additive manner. This pattern is driven by increasing damage to post-embryonic roots in the presence of benzoxazinoids and sugars. Benzoxazinoid- and sugar-mediated foraging directly improves western corn rootworm growth and survival. Interestingly, western corn rootworm larvae retain a substantial fraction of their capacity to feed and survive on maize plants in the absence of both classes of cues. This study unravels fine-grained differentiation and integration of primary and secondary metabolites into herbivore foraging and documents how the capacity to compensate for the absence of important chemical cues enables a specialist herbivore to survive within unpredictable metabolic landscapes. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info