Attack sequence affects defense mechanism

The feeding time of different insects affects the defense and nutritional quality of plants-a new study reveals this complexity and has implications for pest management strategies

A virus-carrying piercing and sucking aphids has long worried pea growers, but a more harmless-looking weevil, which only takes a small bite from the leaf, also plays an important role in plant health

Although many studies have focused on the effects of a single pest, this study, published in the online journal Molecular Ecology on August 4, is one of the few studies to study the interaction of several antagonists One, in this case, is two pests and one virus

"Plants in the wild have the opportunity to be exposed to many different types of biological stress elements, which we call antagonists," said Saumik Basu, a postdoctoral researcher at Washington State University and the lead author of the study

Through a series of greenhouse experiments, Basu and colleagues from Washington State University and Cornell University’s Crowder Lab tried to understand what happened in the pea growing area in the Palouse region of eastern Washington

The researchers conducted some experiments, first weevils feed on plants, then aphids, and then other insects in the reverse order

After removing the pests, the researchers let the plants grow for a week

They found that when the weevil eats peas for the first time, it enhances some of the peas's defenses against pathogens and helps them become more resilient to viral infections

If the weevil eats after the aphids, it usually reduces the defense response against pathogens, so the virus can spread more easily

In turn, plants infected by the virus have a stronger resistance to herbivory, releasing compounds that interfere with herbivorous pests

To further complicate the problem, studies have found that when weevils help induce anti-pathogen responses, it reduces plant nutrition by reducing the plant's available amino acids

Basu said these complex interactions are important for pest management

He said: "If we know the time of these interactions in advance, this information will provide farmers with the best remedies to prevent their fields from being attacked

This research is part of a series of investigations of the interactions between many organisms encountered by plants

Basu said that these complex relationships are essential to understanding the response of plants
.

He said: "In the natural environment, a plant will come into contact with different types of organisms, not just one or two, but many
.
Order and complexity-how many kinds, what are the different types and how they are The interaction between them-affects how the nuclear power plant responds to all these attackers
.
"

Responses of pea plants to multiple antagonists are mediated by order of attack and phytohormone crosstalk

###