Journal article
Detrimental and neutral effects of a wild grass-fungal endophyte symbiotum on insect preference and performance
Journal of insect science (Tucson, Ariz.), Vol.11(77), pp.1-13
2011
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/108112
PMCID: PMC3281469
PMID: 21867443
Abstract
Seed-borne Epichloë/Neotyphodium Glenn, Bacon, Hanlin (Ascomycota: Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae) fungal endophytes in temperate grasses can provide protection against insect attack with the degree of host resistance related to the grass-endophyte symbiotum and the insect species involved in an interaction. Few experimental studies with wild grass-endophyte symbiota, compared to endophyte-infected agricultural grasses, have tested for anti-insect benefits, let alone for resistance against more than one insect species. This study quantified the preference and performance of the bird cherry oat-aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and the cereal leaf beetle, Oulema melanopus (L.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), two important pests of forage and cereal grasses, on Neotyphodium-infected (E+) and uninfected (E-) plants of the wild grass Alpine timothy, Phleum alpinum L. (Poales: Poaceae). The experiments tested for both constitutive and wound-induced resistance in E+ plants to characterize possible plasticity of defense responses by a wild E+ grass. The aphid, R. padi preferred E- over E+ test plants in choice experiments and E+ undamaged test plants constitutively expressed antibiosis resistance to this aphid by suppressing population growth. Prior damage of E+ test plants did not induce higher levels of resistance to R. padi. By contrast, the beetle, O. melanopus showed no preference for E+ or E- test plants and endophyte infection did not adversely affect the survival and development of larvae. These results extend the phenomenon of variable effects of E+ wild grasses on the preference and performance of phytophagous insects. The wild grass- Neotyphodium symbiotum in this study broadens the number of wild E+ grasses available for expanded explorations into the effects of endophyte metabolites on insect herbivory.
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Details
- Title
- Detrimental and neutral effects of a wild grass-fungal endophyte symbiotum on insect preference and performance
- Creators
- Stephen L Clement - USDA, ARS Plant Germplasm Introduction and Testing Research Unit, 59 Johnson Hall, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-6402, USA. stephenclement08@gmail.comJinguo HuAlan V StewartBingrui WangLeslie R Elberson
- Publication Details
- Journal of insect science (Tucson, Ariz.), Vol.11(77), pp.1-13
- Academic Unit
- Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences, College of
- Publisher
- United States
- Identifiers
- 99900547761401842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article