Trichome acylsugar defenses are equally effective against leaf-mining and free-living insects.

Trichome-produced acylsugars effectively defend Solanum pennellii against leafminers by translocating into internal tissues, with 100% inhibition of larval growth observed.

• Why it matters: Understanding how plants defend against internal pests like leafminers is crucial for developing durable pest-resistant crops, as traditional defenses mainly target external herbivores.
• What they did: The study used MALDI-MSI and stimulated Raman scattering microscopy to analyze metabolite movement, identifying the ABC transporter SpABCB5 as essential for acylsugar translocation into mesophyll tissues.
• The result: Findings demonstrate that epidermal trichomes can rapidly deposit chemical defenses internally, opening new strategies for breeding crops resistant to both external and internal herbivores.