Impact of endophytic colonization by entomopathogenic fungi on the behavior and life history of the tobacco peach aphid Myzus persicae var. nicotianae

A - Papers appearing in refereed journals

Vuts, J., Wilberts, L., Caulfield, J. C., Thomas, G., Birkett, M. A., Herrera-Malaver, B., Verstrepen, K. J., Sobhy, I. S., Jacquemyn, H. and Lievens, B. 2022. Impact of endophytic colonization by entomopathogenic fungi on the behavior and life history of the tobacco peach aphid Myzus persicae var. nicotianae. PLOS ONE. 17 (9), p. e0273791. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273791

AuthorsVuts, J., Wilberts, L., Caulfield, J. C., Thomas, G., Birkett, M. A., Herrera-Malaver, B., Verstrepen, K. J., Sobhy, I. S., Jacquemyn, H. and Lievens, B.
Abstract

Entomopathogenic fungi can adopt an endophytic lifestyle and provide protection against insect herbivores and plant pathogens. So far, most studies have focused on Beauveria bassiana to increase plant resistance against abiotic and biotic stresses, while only little is known for other entomopathogenic fungi. In this study, we investigated whether root inoculation of sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) by the entomopathogenic fungi Akanthomyces muscarius ARSEF 5128 and B. bassiana ARSEF 3097 can improve resistance against the tobacco peach aphid Myzus persicae var. nicotianae. First, dual-choice experiments were performed to test the hypothesis that the fungi deter aphids via modifying plant volatile profiles. Next, we tested the hypothesis that endophytic colonization negatively affects aphid life history traits, such as fecundity, development and mortality rate. Aphids were significantly attracted to the odor of plants inoculated with A. muscarius over non-inoculated plants. Plants inoculated with A. muscarius emitted significantly higher amounts of β-pinene than non-inoculated plants, and significantly higher amounts of indole than B. bassiana-inoculated and non-inoculated plants. Inoculation with the fungal strains also caused significantly higher emission of terpinolene. Further, both aphid longevity and fecundity were significantly reduced by 18% and 10%, respectively, when feeding on plants inoculated with A. muscarius, although intrinsic rate of population increase did not differ between inoculated and non-inoculated plants. Sweet pepper plants inoculated with B. bassiana ARSEF 3097 did not elicit a significant behavioral response nor affected the investigated life history traits. We conclude that endophytic colonization by entomopathogenic fungi has the potential to alter olfactory behavior and performance of M. persicae var. nicotianae, but effects are small and depend on the fungal strain used.

KeywordsEntomopathogen; VOC's; Aphid; Olfaction; Behaviour; Fungi; Endophyte; Semiochemical
Year of Publication2022
JournalPLOS ONE
Journal citation17 (9), p. e0273791
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273791
Web address (URL)https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0273791
Open accessPublished as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
FunderBBSRC Industrial Strategy Challenge
Funder project or codeBBSRC Strategic Programme in Smart Crop Protection
Publisher's version
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online06 Sep 2022
Publication process dates
Accepted16 Aug 2022
PublisherPublic Library of Science (PLOS)
ISSN1932-6203

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