Abstract
Aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) cause significant damage and transmit viruses to various crop plants. We aimed to evaluate how the infectious status of aphids influences their interaction with potential hosts. Two aphid (Myzus persicae and Rhopalosiphum padi) and plant (Nicotiana tabacum and Triticum aestivum) species were used. The preferences of aphids towards healthy, virus-infected (Potato Leafroll Virus (PLRV) and Barley Yellow Dwarf virus (BYDV)), and endophytic entomopathogenic fungi (EEPF)-inoculated (Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium acridum) plants were investigated in dual-choice tests. The headspace volatiles of the different plant modalities were also sampled and analyzed. Viruliferous and non-viruliferous aphids were more attracted to EEPF-inoculated plants compared to uninoculated plants. However, viruliferous aphids were more attracted to EEPF-inoculated plants compared to virus-infected plants, while non-viruliferous insects exhibited no preference. Fungal-inoculated plants released higher amounts of aldehydes (i.e., heptanal, octanal, nonanal and decanal) compared to other plants, which might explain why viruliferous and non-viruliferous aphids were more abundant in EEPF-inoculated plants. Our study provides an interesting research perspective on how EEPF are involved in behavior of virus vector, depending on the infectious status of the latter.
Highlights
Aphids are herbivorous, sap-feeding insects that are regarded as crop pests in agricultural and horticultural production systems globally [1]
Our study provides an interesting research perspective on how endophytic entomopathogenic fungi (EEPF) are involved in behavior of virus vector, depending on the infectious status of the latter
This phenomenon was not observed when virus-free plants were compared to EEPF-inoculated plants, especially viruliferous and non-viruliferous aphids, which were both attracted to EEPF-inoculated plants
Summary
Sap-feeding insects that are regarded as crop pests in agricultural and horticultural production systems globally [1]. Aphids contribute major economic losses by causing significant damage to plants and transmitting viruses [1]. More than half of all insect-vectored plant viruses are transmitted by aphids by non-persistent, semi-persistent, or persistent modes [2,3]. The host-finding behavior of aphids is specific, and largely explains their role as important vectors of plant viruses. This behavior is mediated, in most cases, by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are continuously released by plants [4,5,6,7]. A synthetic blend of 11 VOCs, at concentrations and ratios designed to mimic potato plants, induced a similar behavioral response to Myzus persicae (Sulzer), as a natural plant on the olfactometer [8]
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