Aphid infestation leads to plant part‐specific changes in phloem sap chemistry, which may indicate niche construction

Abstract

Phloem sap quality can differ between and within plants, and affect the performance of aphids. In turn, aphid infestation may change the chemical composition and nutritional value of phloem sap. However, the effects of different aphid species on the overall phloem sap composition of distinct parts within plant individuals in relation to aphid performance remain unclear. To test the specificity of plant responses to aphids, we used two chemotypes of Tanacetum vulgare plants and placed the monophagous aphids Macrosiphoniella tanacetaria and Uroleucon tanaceti on different plant parts (stems close to the inflorescence, young and old leaves). Aphid population growth was determined and sugars, organic acids, amino acids and metabolic fingerprints of phloem exudates were analysed. Macrosiphoniella tanacetaria performed best on stems, whereas U. tanaceti performed best on old leaves, indicating differences in niche conformance. Aphid infestation led to distinct changes in the phloem exudate composition of distinct metabolite classes, differing particularly between plant parts but less between chemotypes. In summary, plant responses to aphids are highly specific for the chemotype, plant part, metabolite class and aphid species. These changes may indicate that aphids construct their own niche, optimizing the food quality on the plant parts they prefer.

Protein elicitor PeaT1 enhanced resistance against aphid (Sitobion avenae) in wheat

“…3 Aphids are a type of phloem-feeding insect that consume plant sap and transmit plant viruses, resulting in huge agricultural losses. [4][5][6][7] An aphid-induced plant defense response has been confirmed in several plant-aphid systems. The fecundity of green peach aphid (Myzus persicae) was decreased in leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana pre-infested with aphids.…”

“…Aphids are a type of phloem‐feeding insect that consume plant sap and transmit plant viruses, resulting in huge agricultural losses . An aphid‐induced plant defense response has been confirmed in several plant–aphid systems.…”

Protein Elicitor PeBL1 of Brevibacillus laterosporus Enhances Resistance Against Myzus persicae in Tomato

“…Aphids are phloem-feeding insects, which transmit plant viruses by consuming plant sap, thus resulting in severe agricultural losses [4,5]. Defense responses induced by aphids have been analyzed in various aphid-plant systems.…”

Ecology and Evolution of Intraspecific Chemodiversity of Plants

“…This intra-individual chemodiversity includes all plant parts from roots to shoots and reproductive tissues Müller 2018, Tsunoda et al 2017). Moreover, such chemodiversity is also measurable at a very small scale such as, e.g., the phloem sap of different leaves (Jakobs et al 2019, Stolpe et al 2017b). In addition, metabolites produced by the various plant parts often show pronounced spatio-temporal variation (Ochoa-López et al 2018).…”

“…Caroline Müller (P5) is a chemical ecologist, who investigates the role of natural products involved in communication between organisms. She is particularly interested in the interand intraspecific variation in plant responses to environmental challenges, in tissue-specific analysis of metabolites with special focus on phloem sap and in the role of factors modulating plant-antagonist interactions (e.g., Jakobs et al 2019, Schweiger et al 2014a, Schweiger et al 2014b, Schweiger et al 2014c, Tewes et al 2018). Müller combines chemical-analytical tools with bioassays and behavioural studies to elucidate the ecological and evolutionary basis of species interactions.…”