Effect of different host plants on the growth of the root hemiparasite Santalum acuminatum (quandong)

2002 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth R. Loveys ◽  
Stephen D. Tyerman ◽  
Brian R. Loveys

In recent years, the root hemiparasite Santalum acuminatum (quandong) has become an increasingly important commercial crop within the indigenous foods market. Relatively little is known of the significance of the host species on quandong growth and development. This paper presents data from a glasshouse pot experiment showing the effect of 4 different host species on the growth of quandong. Quandong growth, as measured by height and dry-mass accumulation, was significantly improved when grown in the presence of a host plant compared with being grown alone. Quandong grown with a host achieved an average height of 45 cm, while those grown alone grew up to only 37 cm. The host species also had an impact on the growth of quandong. Quandong had no detrimental effect on the growth of its host plant. Quandong grown with Myoporum parvifolium and Atriplex nummularia accumulated a significantly greater amount of dry biomass than quandong grown alone.

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina Amador-Vargas

Some species of plant-mutualistic ants kill the vegetation growing in the vicinities of their host plant, creating an area of bare ground (clearing). The reduced competition in the clearing may facilitate the establishment of host species sprouts (clones and seedlings), which in turn benefits the ants with additional food and shelter (“sprout-establishment hypothesis”). To test this hypothesis, the density and origin ofAcacia collinsiisprouts growing inside clearings and in the vicinities of acacia plants without clearings were compared. Also, to assess the pruning selectivity of acacia ants (Pseudomyrmex spinicola), seedlings were transplanted into clearings. The reaction of ants towards unrewarding acacia seedlings (without food and shelter) was also tested. The density of acacia sprouts growing inside clearings was almost twice that in the vicinities of host plants without clearings, and sprouts were inhabited by nestmates of the colony that made the clearing. Clones and seedlings were found in similar proportions in the clearings, and ants did not kill unrewarding acacia seedlings or seedlings unrelated to their host. The benefit reported here for the ants could be in conflict with the host plant, especially when the plant has rhizomal reproduction.


PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel I. Ballesteros ◽  
Jürgen Gadau ◽  
Fabrice Legeai ◽  
Angelica Gonzalez-Gonzalez ◽  
Blas Lavandero ◽  
...  

The molecular mechanisms that allow generalist parasitoids to exploit many, often very distinct hosts are practically unknown. The wasp Aphidius ervi, a generalist koinobiont parasitoid of aphids, was introduced from Europe into Chile in the late 1970s to control agriculturally important aphid species. A recent study showed significant differences in host preference and host acceptance (infectivity) depending on the host A. ervi were reared on. In contrast, no genetic differentiation between A. ervi populations parasitizing different aphid species and aphids of the same species reared on different host plants was found in Chile. Additionally, the same study did not find any fitness effects in A. ervi if offspring were reared on a different host as their mothers. Here, we determined the effect of aphid host species (Sitobion avenae versus Acyrthosiphon pisum reared on two different host plants alfalfa and pea) on the transcriptome of adult A. ervi females. We found a large number of differentially expressed genes (between host species: head: 2,765; body: 1,216; within the same aphid host species reared on different host plants: alfalfa versus pea: head 593; body 222). As expected, the transcriptomes from parasitoids reared on the same host species (pea aphid) but originating from different host plants (pea versus alfalfa) were more similar to each other than the transcriptomes of parasitoids reared on a different aphid host and host plant (head: 648 and 1,524 transcripts; body: 566 and 428 transcripts). We found several differentially expressed odorant binding proteins and olfactory receptor proteins in particular, when we compared parasitoids from different host species. Additionally, we found differentially expressed genes involved in neuronal growth and development as well as signaling pathways. These results point towards a significant rewiring of the transcriptome of A. ervi depending on aphid-plant complex where parasitoids develop, even if different biotypes of a certain aphid host species (A. pisum) are reared on the same host plant. This difference seems to persist even after the different wasp populations were reared on the same aphid host in the laboratory for more than 50 generations. This indicates that either the imprinting process is very persistent or there is enough genetic/allelic variation between A. ervi populations. The role of distinct molecular mechanisms is discussed in terms of the formation of host fidelity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-73
Author(s):  
Julio M. Grandez-Rios ◽  
Carlos G. H. Pizango ◽  
Walter S. de Araújo

Background: The term ‘super host’ plant is often used in the literature surrounding plant-galling interactions, but the different contexts in which the term is used generates doubt and confusion due to the absence of a systematic definition of the term’s meaning. Objective: In this study, we used 60 well-defined plant-galling assemblages to propose a systematic definition of super-host plants at the local and regional level. In addition, we investigated factors that explain the number of galling species per host plant at different geographic scales. Methods: Plant-galling assemblages were compiled from an extensive literature review on insect gall inventories carried out in Brazil. Results: We found 888 host plant species belonging to 94 families and 340 genera hosting 2,376 insect gall morphotypes. At a local scale, 33.2% of host plant species harbored one insect gall morphotype and 12.2% hosted two gall morphotypes, making up 45.4% of the host plant species in each locality. At the regional scale, 51.5% of host plant species harbored one insect gall morphotype, and 17.9% of host plant species hosted two gall morphotypes, corresponding to 69.4% of all host plant species. Based on the average number of galling species per plant species, we classified the plant species into: 1) Host species; 2) Multi-host species and 3) Super-host species. The super-host plant species that showed the greatest richness of gall morphotypes at the local level were Baccharis reticularia and Adenocalymma neoflavidu. Furthermore, we found a positive relationship between plant life-form architectural complexity and the number of galling species at the local level. At the regional scale, we registered five super-host species (Guapira opposita, Protium heptaphyllum, Copaifera langsdorffii, Myrcia splendens, and Byrsonima sericea) which hosted 21 or more insect gall morphotypes. The number of galling species per host plant species at the regional scale was influenced positively by geographic distribution rank and number of biomes in which each species of the plant occurs. Conclusion: The present study stands out as the first of its kind to provide a systematic standardization for the super-host plants and to investigate factors influencing these species.


Author(s):  
Marcin W. Zielonka ◽  
Tom W. Pope ◽  
Simon R. Leather

Abstract The carnation tortrix moth, Cacoecimorpha pronubana (Hübner, [1799]) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is one of the most economically important insect species affecting the horticultural industry in the UK. The larvae consume foliage, flowers or fruits, and/or rolls leaves together with silken threads, negatively affecting the growth and/or aesthetics of the crop. In order to understand the polyphagous behaviour of this species within an ornamental crop habitat, we hypothesized that different host plant species affect its life history traits differently. This study investigated the effects of the host plant species on larval and pupal durations and sizes, and fecundity (the number of eggs and the number and size of egg clutches). At 20°C, 60% RH and a 16L:8D photoperiod larvae developed 10, 14, 20 and 36 days faster when reared on Christmas berry, Photinia (Rosaceae), than on cherry laurel, Prunus laurocerasus (Rosaceae), New Zealand broadleaf, Griselinia littoralis (Griseliniaceae), Mexican orange, Choisya ternata (Rutaceae), and firethorn, Pyracantha angustifolia (Rosaceae), respectively. Female pupae were 23.8 mg heavier than male pupae, and pupal weight was significantly correlated with the duration of larval development. The lowest and the highest mean numbers of eggs were produced by females reared on Pyracantha (41) and Photinia (202), respectively. Clutch size differed significantly among moths reared on different host plants, although the total number of eggs did not differ. This study showed that different ornamental host plants affect the development of C. pronubana differently. Improved understanding of the influence of host plant on the moth's life history parameters measured here will help in determining the economic impact that this species may have within the ornamental plant production environment, and may be used in developing more accurate crop protection methodologies within integrated pest management of this insect.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Belén Cotes ◽  
Gunda Thöming ◽  
Carol V. Amaya-Gómez ◽  
Ondřej Novák ◽  
Christian Nansen

AbstractRoot-associated entomopathogenic fungi (R-AEF) indirectly influence herbivorous insect performance. However, host plant-R-AEF interactions and R-AEF as biological control agents have been studied independently and without much attention to the potential synergy between these functional traits. In this study, we evaluated behavioral responses of cabbage root flies [Delia radicum L. (Diptera: Anthomyiidae)] to a host plant (white cabbage cabbage Brassica oleracea var. capitata f. alba cv. Castello L.) with and without the R-AEF Metarhizium brunneum (Petch). We performed experiments on leaf reflectance, phytohormonal composition and host plant location behavior (behavioral processes that contribute to locating and selecting an adequate host plant in the environment). Compared to control host plants, R-AEF inoculation caused, on one hand, a decrease in reflectance of host plant leaves in the near-infrared portion of the radiometric spectrum and, on the other, an increase in the production of jasmonic, (+)-7-iso-jasmonoyl-l-isoleucine and salicylic acid in certain parts of the host plant. Under both greenhouse and field settings, landing and oviposition by cabbage root fly females were positively affected by R-AEF inoculation of host plants. The fungal-induced change in leaf reflectance may have altered visual cues used by the cabbage root flies in their host plant selection. This is the first study providing evidence for the hypothesis that R-AEF manipulate the suitability of their host plant to attract herbivorous insects.


Nematology ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Aileen Ryan ◽  
Peter Jones

AbstractSeventy bacteria, isolated from the rhizosphere of the potato cyst nematode (PCN) host plant, potato, were cultured in the presence and absence of potato root leachate (PRL) and the resultant culture filtrates were analysed for their ability to affect the hatch in vitro of the two PCN species. Of the isolates tested, nine had a significant effect on PCN hatch. Six affected Globodera pallida hatch and three affected G. rostochiensis hatch. Five of the isolates significantly increased hatch only when cultured in the presence of PRL. Three of the isolates decreased PCN hatch significantly in PRL. Only one isolate increased hatch significantly in the absence of PRL. No isolate affected the hatch of both species. Six of the nine isolates that significantly affected PCN hatch had been pre-selected by culturing on PRL. Bacterial isolates from PCN non-hosts (14 from wheat, 17 from sugar beet) were also tested for hatching activity. The principal effect of the hatch-active isolates from the PCN non-host plants was to increase PCN hatch in the presence of PRL. In contrast to the host bacteria results, the isolates from non-host plants affected only G. rostochiensis hatch (three wheat isolates and four sugar beet isolates significantly increased G. rostochiensis hatch); no such isolate affected G. pallida hatch significantly in the presence of PRL. Ten isolates (32%) from non-host plants had the ability to increase significantly the hatch of PCN in the absence of PRL (eight of these affected G. rostochiensis hatch and four affected G. pallida hatch), compared to only one bacterial isolate (1%) from a host plant. The majority of the isolates from non-hosts produced PCN species-specific effects, as with the bacteria isolated from potatoes, although two wheat isolates increased the hatch of both species significantly in the absence of PRL. Of 20 hatch-active bacterial isolates (from all three plants) identified, 70% were Bacillus spp. Other genera identified were Arthrobacter , Acinetobacter and Staphylococcus .


1973 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 549-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. J. B. Lowe

Apterous adult Myzus persicae (Sulz.) of a glasshouse strain differed greatly in their ability to colonise sugar-beet according to the plant on which they and their forebears were cultured. Those from Chinese cabbage (Brassica pekinensis) settled least readily on beet, whilst aphids from broad beans (Vicia faba) produced larger populations than those cultured on sugar-beet. When reared wholly on groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) young adults differed in their ability to colonise Chinese cabbage, sugar-beet and broad bean according to their parents' culture host species, and these differences were detected in a second generation reared wholly on groundsel. The responses of clones isolated from cultures maintained continuously on Chinese cabbage and broad bean were similar, showing that the effect was caused by the aphids' host-plant experience, and was not due to fixed, heritable characters of the sub-cultures. Some, but not all clones of M. persicae collected from the field showed enhanced colonising ability after culture on broad bean as compared with Chinese cabbage. This was apparent on sugar-beet and lettuce (Lactuca sativa). These effects of former hosts on the ability of M. persicae to colonise plants may be important both in work on resistance to aphids and in the epidemiology of aphid-borne diseases.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 151-159
Author(s):  
Magdalena Sunarti Pareira ◽  
Irdika Mansur ◽  
Dewi Wulandari

The sandalwood tree (Santalum album Linn.) is an important tree species as well as a primadonna for the people of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). It has high economic value for its aromatic wood and essential oil content that have a very distinctive aroma used to make various products such as handicrafts, woodcarvings, incense, and oil for the perfume and cosmetics industry. Sandalwood is a semi parasite plant that part of its life phase requires a host plant to get the nutrients and water. There are many types of host plants that have been used, among others, Casuarina equisetifolia, Acacia mangium, Terminalia microcarpa, Sesbania grandiflora, Alternanthera sp and Capsicum annum. In this research will be tested to try sandalwood planted with Cymbopogon nardus host plants, in terms of economics can provide benefits.Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) is a group of fungi from glomeromycota phylum that can symbiosis mutualism with root system of high level plant. The working principle of the mycorrhiza is to infect the root system of the host plant, producing intensive hyphae tissue so that the plant containing mycorrhiza will be able to increase the capacity in nutrient uptake. The utilization of host plants Alternanthera sp, Capsicum annum, and its application with AMF is the best solution to overcome the problem of developing sandalwood in TTU on the nursery. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of AMF and utilization of the atsiri host plant to increase the growth of sandalwood seedlings in TTU. This study was designed using a complete random method (RAL) in split plot design. If the treatment has a significant effect then followed by Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT). Parameters observed were height (cm), number of leaf, diameter of sandalwood (mm), dry weight of root, seed quality index, ratio of root buds, and haustorium observation of Sandalwood, and also number of spore, root colonization and AMF dependency of Sandalwood.The results showed that the treatment of AMF with Capsicum annum host plant was 19.8 of high, number of leaf 18.9 on FMA treatment with host plant Capsicum annum, diameter of stem 2.24 mm on Alternanthera sp host treatments without AMF and 1.83 mm at AMF treatment with host plant Capsicum annum, dry weight of buds 2.00g on AMF treatment with Capsicum annum host plant, dry weight of roots AMF (M1) with alternanthera sp 0.70 g, root buds ratio of AMF with host plant alternanthera sp 4.05, seed quality index AMF with Alternanthera sp 4.16 and 82 % of root colonization on AMF with host plant Capsicum annum.Keywords: Santalum album Linn., AMF, host plant.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Okamura ◽  
Ai Sato ◽  
Natsumi Tsuzuki ◽  
Masashi Murakami ◽  
Hanna Heidel-Fischer ◽  
...  

AbstractAdaptive traits that enable organisms to conquer novel niches and experience subsequent diversification are ecologically and evolutionarily important. The larvae of Pieris butterflies express nitrile-specifier proteins (NSPs), a key innovation for overcoming the glucosinolate (GLS)-myrosinase-based defense system of their Brassicales host-plants. NSPs are a member of the NSP-like gene family, which includes the major allergen (MA) protein, a paralog of NSP with a GLS-disarming function, and a single domain major allergen (SDMA) protein, whose function is unknown. The arms-race between a highly variable host-plant defense system and members of the NSP-like gene family is suggested to mediate diversification in both Pierid butterflies and Brassicales plants. Here, we combined feeding experiments using 25 Brassicaceae plants and five Pieris species with larval transcriptome data to investigate the evolutionary forces acting on NSP-like gene family members associated with patterns of host-plant usage. Although we observed significantly elevated nonsynonymous to synonymous substitution ratios in NSPs, no such pattern was observed in MAs or SDMAs. Furthermore, we found a signature of positive selection of NSP at a phylogenetic branch which reflects different host-plant preferences. Our data indicate that NSPs have evolved in response to shifting preferences for host plants among five Pieris butterflies, whereas MAs and SDMAs appear to have more conserved functions. Our results show that the evolution and functional differentiation of key genes used in host-plant adaptation play a crucial role in the chemical arms-race between Pieris butterflies and their Brassicales host-plants.


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