PubMed · 2026-02-17
Scientists discovered a molecular doorway in tomato plant hairs that pumps out a natural sticky, insect-repelling substance. Blocking this doorway makes tomatoes far more vulnerable to pest insects, while understanding it opens the door to breeding more pest-resistant crops without pesticides.
Knocking out the Sl-ABCB5 gene using CRISPR-Cas9 caused a dramatic reduction in the sticky insect-repelling substance on tomato hairs, confirming this protein is the key transporter.
Plants with the disabled transporter showed significantly increased susceptibility to western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis), a common and damaging crop pest.
The same protective mechanism was found to be conserved across multiple Solanaceae species — including wild tomato and black nightshade — suggesting it is a broadly usable target for crop engineering.
