Abstract: To clarify the effects of the damage by Carposina sasakii Matsumura on soluble protein content and defensive enzyme activities in fruits of various apple cultivars, the damage degree, soluble protein content, and SOD, POD and CAT activities in apple fruits treated with C. sasakii inoculation or artificial needling were measured after 12 days. The relationships between wormholes and the soluble protein content or defensive enzyme activities were also analyzed. The results showed that cultivar ‘Gala’ had more wormholes than cultivars ‘Jonagold’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ after C. sasakii inoculation. The protein contents induced by C. sasakii damage in all 3 cultivars were significantly lower than those by artificial needling, but there was no significant difference between the control group and the group treated by C. sasakii. The SOD activities induced by C. sasakii damage were significantly higher than those by artificial needling. The activities of POD were increased significantly, and the increments in ‘Jonagold’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ were significantly higher than those in ‘Gala’. There was no significant difference between the CAT activities in fruits damaged by C. sasakii and the control group, while both of them were higher than those by artificial needling. The CAT activities were positively associated with wormhole numbers of apple fruits. The damage by C. sasakii could induce biochemical reactions in hostplants, for example, the change of the protein contents and defensive enzymes, and the defensive enzymes in apple fruits might play an important role in defending the damage by C. sasakii.

Key words: gravity model, least cost model, ecological network, biodiversity.