Entrapped carrion increases indirect plant resistance and intra-guild predation on a sticky tarweed

The evolution of glandularity as a defense against herbivores in the tarweed clade

PREMISE

Glandular trichomes are implicated in direct and indirect defense of plants. However, the degree to which glandular and non-glandular trichomes have evolved as a consequence of herbivory remains unclear, because their heritability, their association with herbivore resistance, their trade-offs with one another, and their association with other functions are rarely quantified.

METHODS

We conducted a phylogenetic comparison of trichomes and herbivore resistance against the generalist caterpillar, Heliothis virescens, among tarweed species (Asteraceae: Madiinae) and a genetic correlation study comparing those same traits among maternal half-sibs of three tarweed species.

RESULTS

Within a tarweed species, we found no evidence that herbivore growth rate decreased on tarweed individuals or maternal sib groups with more glandularity or denser trichomes. However, tarweed species with more glandularity and fewer non-glandular trichomes resulted in slower-growing herbivores. Likewise, a trade-off between glandular and non-glandular trichomes was apparent among tarweed species, but not among individuals or sib groups within a species.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that this key herbivore does not select for trichomes as a direct defense in tarweed species. However, trichomes differed substantially among species and likely affect herbivore pressure on those species. Our results demonstrate that trade-offs among plant traits, as well as inference on the function of those traits, can depend on scale.

Expression and functional analysis of P450 gene induced tolerance/resistance to lambda-cyhalothrin in quercetin fed larvae of beet armyworm Spodoptera exigua (Hübner)

Beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua (Hübner) is an agronomical important and most devastating polyphagous pest that damages a variety of crops around the globe including China. Quercetin is one of the abundant dietary flavonoids and the important defense allelochemicals in plants. Therefore, the changes in insect detoxification enzymes activities in response to plants allelochemicals may result increased the sensitivity to insecticides. In this study, we examined the induced effect of quercetin on larval tolerance to lambda-cyhalothrin in S. exigua. Application of cytochrome P450 inhibitor piperonyl butoxide (PBO) significantly synergized the lambda-cyhalothrin toxicity in quercetin-fed S. exigua larvae. Moreover, larval weight significantly reduced in quercetin, lambda-cyhalothrin, and quercetin + lambda-cyhalothrin treatment. Furthermore, our results showed that the P450 detoxification enzyme effectively increased in all treatments as compared to the control. Quantitative Real-time PCR analysis revealed that expression level of CYP6AE10 significantly upregulated in larvae treated with quercetin, lambda-cyhalothrin and quercetin + lambda-cyhalothrin in the midgut and fat body respectively. In addition, RNAi mediated knockdown of CYP6AE10 in S. exigua larvae significantly decreased the transcription level of target cytochrome P450 gene followed by the exposure with quercetin, lambda-cyhalothrin, and quercetin + lambda-cyhalothrin. Similarly, the knockdown of CYP6AE10 by the injection of dsRNA led to increased mortality after the treatment with respective chemicals. Overall, these data showed that P450s might possibly play an important role in the metabolic adaptation of S. exigua larvae to its host plant defense allelochemicals as well as insecticides. In conclusion, S. exigua can take benefit from its host plant's secondary metabolites to elaborate its defense against synthetic insecticides.

Induction of the sticky plant defense syndrome in wild tobacco

Many plants engage in protective mutualisms, offering resources such as extrafloral nectar and shelters to predatory arthropods in exchange for protection against herbivores. Recent work indicates that sticky plants catch small insects and provide this carrion to predators who defend the plants against herbivores. In this study, we investigated whether wild tobacco, Nicotiana attenuata, fits this sticky plant defense syndrome that has been described for other sticky plants. We developed a bioassay for stickiness involving the number of flies that adhered to flowers, the stickiest tissues. In surveys conducted over three field seasons at four sites, we found that the number of carrion that adhered to a plant was positively correlated with the number of predators that we observed foraging over its surfaces. The number of predators was positively correlated with the number of seed capsules that the plant produced, a measure of lifetime female reproductive success. Structural equation modeling indicated strong support for the causal path linking carrion numbers to predator numbers to capsule production. We investigated whether stickiness was an inducible trait and examined two potential cues. We found that experimental clipping of rosette leaves induced greater stickiness, although clipping of neighboring sagebrush leaves did not. Damage to leaf tissue is likely to be a more reliable predictor of risk than is damage to a neighboring plant. The sticky plant defense syndrome is a widespread protective mutualism; its strength and ecological relevance can adjust as risk of herbivory changes.