Plants employ diverse responses mediated by phytohormones to defend themselves against pathogens and herbivores. Adapted pathogens and herbivores often manipulate these responses to their benefit. Previously, we demonstrated that Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) infection suppresses callose deposition, an important plant defense induced in response to feeding by its aphid vector, the green peach aphi...

Empirical studies have shown that belowground feeding herbivores can affect the performance of aboveground herbivores in different ways. Often the critical life-history parameters underlying the observed performance effects remain unexplored. In order to better understand the cause for the observed effects on aboveground herbivores, these ecological mechanisms must be better understood. In this...

Aphid infestations can cause severe decreases in soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) yield. Since planting aphid-resistant soybean strains is a promising approach for pest control, understanding the resistance mechanisms employed by aphids is of considerable importance. We compared aphid resistance in seven soybean strains and found that strain Tohoku149 was the most resistant to the foxglove aphi...

Wild crucifers namely Arabidopsis thaliana, Brassica fruticulosa, B. rugosa, B. spinescens, B. tournefortii, Camelina sativa, Capsella bursa-pastoris, Crambe abysinnica, Cronopus didymus, Diplotaxis assurgens, D. gomez-campoi, D. muralis, D. siettiana, D. tenuisiliqua, Enatharocarpus lyratus, Lepidium sativum and Sinapis alba along with five cultivated Brassica species including B. rapa (BSH-1)...

Recent studies suggest that the pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum) has low immune defenses. However, its immune components are largely undescribed, and notably, extensive characterization of circulating cells has been missing. Here, we report characterization of five cell categories in hemolymph of adults of the LL01 pea aphid clone, devoid of secondary symbionts (SS): prohemocytes, plasmatocytes,...

The graminous host range and sources of sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.] plant resistance, including cross-resistance from greenbug, Schizaphis graminum (Rondani), were studied for the newly emerging sugarcane aphid, Melanaphis sacchari (Zehntner), in greenhouse no-choice experiments and field evaluations. The sugarcane aphid could not survive on field corn, Zea mays (L.), Teff grass, Era...

A variety of management methods to control the soybean aphid (Aphis glycines Matsumura) have been investigated since its invasion into North America in 2000, among them plant resistance has emerged as a viable option for reducing aphid damage to soybeans and preventing outbreaks. Plant resistance methods often use natural soybean plant defenses that impose stress on aphids by reducing fitness a...

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the amino acid permease gene AAP6 in regulating phloem amino acid composition and then to determine the effects of this altered diet on aphid performance. A genotype of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) was produced in which the function of the amino acid permease gene AAP6 (At5g49630) was abolished. Plants homozygous for the insertionally inactivate...

aphid parasitoids (braconidae: aphidiinae) in several localities of kerman province, southeastern iran were studied between 2007 and 2008 and 20 species belonging to eight genera were identified. parasitoids were reared from 25 field-collected aphid species occurring on 31 host plant species. in the present study, 83 parasitoid-aphid-plant associations, their aphid hosts, and the respective hos...

Associations between microbes and animals are ubiquitous and hosts may benefit from harbouring microbial communities through improved resource exploitation or resistance to environmental stress. The pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, is the host of heritable bacterial symbionts, including the obligate endosymbiont Buchnera aphidicola and several facultative symbionts. While obligate symbionts supp...