Trichome and biochemical basis of resistance against Tuta absoluta in tomato genotypes

South American tomato moth, Tuta absoluta, a serious pest of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) in tropics and subtropics, is rapidly spreading world over. Twenty one wild/cultivated/advanced breeding lines of tomato were screened for resistance to T. absoluta under greenhouse conditions (choice bioassay) and promising genotypes were evaluated further for their antibiosis activity through no choice bioassay under in-vitro conditions. From 21 genotypes screened, six wild accessions viz., S. pennellii (LA 1940); S. chilense (LA 1963); S. arcanum (LA 2157); S. lycopersicum (LA1257) and S. corneliomulleri (LA 1292, LA1274) were relatively resistant to T. absoluta based on mean percent damage and were further studied under in-vitro conditions. These genotypes recorded relatively more larval mortality, prolonged larval and pupal duration with reduced adult emergence of T. absoluta. Among these six genotypes, S. pennellii (LA-1940) showed resistance both under choice and no choice bioassays with higher number of type IV trichomes, highest total flavonoids and phenols. In general, glandular trichomes (GTs) (type I, IV, VII) showed negative correlation in different genotypes of tomato with reference to larval number/plant, percent damage and adult activity, whereas type V (non-GTs) showed negative correlation with number of larvae/plant.